Death's Spawn Redux
by Confushi Sushi
Summary: When SG-1 stumbles upon strange phenomena on a wayward planet, the consequences prove to be more far-reaching than anyone could expect. Re-envisioning of my older story "Deaths Spawn"
1. Taken

**AN: It has been a long time since I've been able to actually write anything. I know I have another story still in progress, and I really want to finish it at some point but so far haven't managed it. This has been in my head off and on for years now. Death's Spawn was the first story I ever published. And over time there's been a lot of pieces of it that in hindsight I would have gone about differently. So, I decided since it's my story, I'm going to go back and rewrite it. I'm just mostly ecstatic that my muse is talking to me again.**

**I hope it's as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write. Here is Part 1: Taken in all it's glory.**

The preliminary scans of P4C-483 had revealed little of note. Remote, and to all appearances uninhabited, there was no rush to go there. Nothing had stood out on the basic mineral survey, which didn't necessarily mean that there wasn't anything of value there, but certainly not around the immediate vicinity of the stargate in any real quantities.

Improved ground penetrating radar and other sensors on the UAV could better detect such things than their systems a few scant years ago. Technology and experience had helped the SGC refine their search methods. Perhaps the new survey would reveal something the old one had not. The address was dialed, and the UAV sent through.

Seargent Davis blinked as the UAV began to transmit video. His partner frowned at the screen. "Color shift?"

There was a distinct yellow tinge to the picture. Diagnostics of the cameras showed them to be working.

"No, I don't think so," he said. "Everything checks out."

Corporal Marks shook his head. "Data's starting to come in. I think it's the damn atmosphere."

"What?"

"There's elevated levels of sulfur, carbon, all sorts of things. Potentially dangerous levels."

Davis opened the file. "That can't be right, nothing at all like that is noted in here."

"Well," Marks indicated the monitors, "It's there now."

Davis gave a small sigh and picked up the phone.

"Major Carter, please report to the control room. There's... something I'd like to show you, ma'am."

_**Taken**_

Sam looked at the video that the UAV was still taking, turned to the atmospheric readouts, and then looked at the video again. She pulled up an archive image from the file, showing a very nondescript planet much like any wilderness one would find on Earth. A very healthy one.

Here, she'd almost say the trees looked like they were on their last legs. And considering how polluted the air was, she could understand why.

"What could do this?" Sam said under her breath. Neither technician had any better idea than she, so no one responded.

The UAV passed a stand of trees, revealing an expanse of water miles in diameter. Not water, she realized, as it was almost pitch black. Radar telemetry revealed it to be deceptively shallow, no more than a few feet at most.

Sam went back to the file, scanning through it quickly. "There's no mention of any significant body of water in here."

"That looks pretty significant," Davis replied. She glared at him briefly. All joking aside, something very serious was going on on P4C-483.

"The atmosphere seems to be stabilizing. Toxicity levels have dropped by almost three percent since we started recording," said Marks.

Sam frowned, things were making even less sense.

"Major, the UAV has almost reached the point of no return."

"Ok, take it and land it near the 'gate. Let me know if you find anything else."

Sam sent the data to her lab and continued studying it there. She frowned at it. Whatever had happened to the planet had happened within a few short years. And if the atmospheric pollution indeed was decaying, then there was no real way to say how high it had been at its peak. Easily enough to kill off any animal that had called the planet home.

She had lost track of time when Daniel's greeting made her start. "Hey, Sam. Sorry."

"I didn't hear you come in."

"What are you up to? You seem pretty engrossed there."

Sam nodded as Daniel circled around the desk. She pulled up some of the recent video the UAV had taken. "Trying to make sense of this."

He stared at it for a moment, tilting his head. "It's very yellow."

"That's the sulfur mostly."

"Yum."

"Not really," Sam said. "But that's not the issue. What I can't figure is how so much of all these various elements got pumped into the air, or why."

"Could it be some sort of natural cycle?"

"Possibly..."

"But you don't think so," Daniel said.

"No. It seems we came in at the tail end of this thing, so there's no real way to say when it started or how bad it got."

"What makes you think it's the end?"

"Well, that's just a guess. Levels seemed to be dropping even as we were observing them. But that doesn't mean that we didn't just hit a pocket or normal fluctuations. We need to recheck in a day or so to verify. Before the batteries on the UAV go."

Because who knew if she could convince them to risk yet another multi-millon dollar probe.

Daniel looked at her. "You think someone did this."

"It makes the most sense to me." Sam pulled up an image of the lake. "That wasn't there before, not a trace of it. In fact, I was starting to do some terrain mapping from the previous UAV route and found some intersections. The topography in this area doesn't match up at all. There wasn't water here. There wasn't even a field."

"What is that, stew?"

Sam winced at his description, but it seemed apt enough. "Hard to say without samples."

Daniel shrugged. "Well I'd really like to meet the people with the technology and resources to pull something like this off."

"Yeah," Sam said. The planet itself was worth further study, that much she knew. So she had to put together her findings for the General.

_**Taken**_

Jack watched Sam as she brought her tray over to the table. He gave a playful smile. "So Daniel's been telling us you want to go visit a planet with yellow skies and black lakes."

"Well, sir, when you put it that way, wouldn't you?" Sam smiled as she took a bite of her food.

"Beats the pants off of green trees."

"I think the trees are still green," Daniel said. Jack sent him a withering stare.

"Actually, they're probably more brown by now," Sam said.

"Thank you, Carter."

She continued. "And in any case, sir, it's still far too soon to talk about going there. We don't even know if it's safe yet."

"Safe?" Jack said.

Sam gave another smile. "Yellow skies and black lakes."

Jack nearly choked on some fries. "Touche."

"With any luck we'll know more by tomorrow," Sam said.

"I'm on tenterhooks. Bated breath and all that."

"What are tenterhooks, O'Neill?" Teal'c said.

"Hooks... on tenters." Teal'c continued to stare at him, unimpressed. Jack sighed. "Eat your pie."

_**Taken**_

Sam stood beside General Hammond and the rest of SG-1 as the Stargate was dialed. Hammond wanted to see things for himself, and Daniel was as curious as she was about the state of the planet. Teal'c was also intrigued, but she knew Jack was mostly trying to avoid paperwork. Or at least that would be his excuse.

They all waited as the last chevron locked and telemetry was received.

"I thought I was promised yellow skies," Jack said. "You can hardly see it."

Hammond frowned. "Is this correct, Major?"

Sam looked at the readouts, compared them to her notes, and checked the signal. "Yes, sir, the UAV's signal is solid. It's showing atmospheric pollution to be about thirty percent of what it was."

"It didn't just... dissipate?" Jack said.

Sam shook her head. "Not by itself. Not this quickly. Sir, request permission to retrieve the UAV."

"Do you think that's wise?"

"These levels aren't dangerous for short periods, and basic HAZMAT will be more than sufficient."

He was silent for several moments. "You have a go. Suit up. Major." Sam stopped to regard him. "Get the probe and come back. That's it."

"Yes, sir."

They passed through the gate fully armed. Only silence and stillness greeted them, not even the wind blew. The eerie setting sent a chill down Sam's spine. A heavy crunching broke the silence as Teal'c was the first to descend the dais.

"The hell?" Jack said. They all looked at the ground. Covered with husks.

"It appears to be the remains of many scarabs," Teal'c said.

"Oh, give or take," Jack said. Looking out, they seemed to cover the ground as far as they could see. Sam quickly scooped some into a bag. "Shoulda brought a bigger broom."

She just rolled her eyes at him. A small tree grew near the gate, and she found that far more interesting. Sam walked over, eyeing it cautiously. Most of the leaves appeared dead and about ready to fall off. A few still retained some color, seeming to shimmer slightly.

"Carter! In and out, remember?"

"Just a second, sir. There's something..." She leaned to look at a different angle, careful not to touch the tree. Not shimmering, she realized, but the leaves were releasing some sort of vapor. Was this the source?

She heard someone crunch towards her, and Daniel's head soon cocked beside her own. "It's smoking."

"Yeah." Deciding it was well worth the risk, and possible reprimand, Sam plucked one of the wisping leaves and sealed it tightly within another bag.

"You know," Jack shouted, "this thing is light as a feather. You two take your time."

"Coming, sir." Sam put away her samples and took a wing. Jack held the other, Teal'c at the tail. They heaved it to the bottom of the stairs and stepped aside as Daniel dialed the gate.

"Welcome back, SG-1. Was there anything of note?" Hammond said as they stepped through.

"Bugs," Jack said. "Lots of bugs. Dead, mind you. Lots of dead bugs. Carter has samples."

Hammond turned to her and Sam shrugged. "They're sealed, sir. And, like the Colonel said, they're dead. I also brought back a leaf. It would appear the trees were generating the toxins."

"I trust you'll take appropriate precautions."

"Yes, sir."

_**Taken**_

Standing in the briefing room, Sam looked around at the rest of SG-1 and General Hammond. There really wasn't all that much to say that they didn't already know. Yes, now she believed she understood more of the how, but that was about it. She showed an image of one of the beetle specimines over the projector.

"Analysis of the beetle husks revealed traces of venom left behind. This venom appears to be composed primarily of a retro virus. The genetic code of this retro virus is identical to strands of DNA in the leaf that I also brought back."

"So," Daniel said, "the beetles infected the trees?"

Sam nodded. "Basically. It seems it was the trees that were emitting the atmospheric pollutants. Instead of photosynthesis, it seems they started to draw up various chemicals and elements from the ground and release them into the air. The trees are dying, and in the process the pollutants are somehow being scrubbed out of the atmosphere. I don't know what is causing it, if it were happening naturally it would take years potentially. I'm almost certain that someone did this, but apart from destroying a whole ecosystem, I can't see what was gained from it."

"A weapon?" Hammond said.

"Possibly. Or some sort of terraforming. It wouldn't be the first time," Sam said.

"Terraforming with bugs?" Jack said.

"Why not, sir? If you wanted to go through a biological route, insects or bacteria would make the most sense."

"To do so would take extensive knowledge and skill," Teal'c said.

"Yes," Sam agreed. "This would be genetic engineering way beyond anything we could possibly do. To know how everything will interact with each other... there's a lot of room for failure."

"How do we know this isn't a failure?" Jack said.

"Well, we don't. There's not much more we can learn without going there and seeing for ourselves." The why bugged her. She needed to figure out the why. There was definitely a lot for them to learn there, no matter what the truth of it was. Even if it hadn't gone as planned, it was well worth study.

Hammond was thoughtful. "You say that the pollution levels are still dropping, Major."

"By all accounts, yes, sir."

"How long would you estimate until these levels are within a tolerable threshold?"

"At these rates, no more than a couple days."

"Then in two days we'll send through a MALP. If conditions are acceptable, SG-1 will go to the planet. Terms will be decided when we know what we're looking at."

_**Taken**_

The MALP had indicated only traces of any pollution remaining. Teal'c stepped through the stargate with his staff weapon as his only protection. They all had basic HAZMAT packed in case anything changed, and Sam would be monitoring atmospheric conditions.

Just as in their brief visit before, he found the total silence disturbing. No birdsong or any other animals for that matter. All dead, no doubt, but it still didn't settle well with him. As he stepped down, Teal'c glanced at the ground. Fully expecting to crunch through the layer of husks but instead finding nothing but bare ground. Looking more thoroughly, he didn't see any sign of them anywhere.

"The insect husks are no longer here," he said. The others looked around much as he did.

"Wind?" Jack said.

Sam frowned as she stared out towards the horizon. She didn't sound convinced. "Maybe."

"Chalk that up for the creep factor. That, and it's too quiet." Jack adjusted his sunglasses, there weren't even any clouds in the sky.

"Indeed." At least Teal'c wasn't the only one to feel the same way. He didn't care for this unnatural stillness.

"So, are we just going to sit here around the gate all day?" Daniel said.

"Please," Jack gave a sweeping bow and motioned Daniel ahead, "after you."

Daniel's tone as he stepped past was equally flowery. "Thank you."

Teal'c fell in step at the rear. He scanned the surrounding trees for anything of threat or interest. There was a complete lack of either. Just trees with bark that seemed to be fading to a dull gray. They had limbs full of dead leaves that Teal'c imagined would rustle if the air would shift only slightly.

It appeared to have no such intentions.

A couple hours passed in almost total silence. It would take them some time more to reach what the UAV had revealed. Was it the lack of anything around to talk about, Teal'c wondered, or was everyone somehow loathe to break the veil that had descended?

A thundering crack stopped them in their tracks. Whirling around, Teal'c watched a tree fifty feet behind them split at a fork halfway up. The groan of wood splitting apart filled the air. The right side fork snapped free of the tree, falling to the ground as if in slow motion. Branches shattered on impact. What remained of the tree waved back and forth in response to the shift in weight, creaking perilously. It turned out Teal'c had been right, the leaves did rustle.

"What was that?" Jack said.

They all started to approach the tree with caution. It slowly steadied itself. Teal'c noticed black sap oozing from the fresh wound. The sap was also splattered all along the ground, and on nearby trees.

"Oh, God, that's foul," Daniel said. The stench hit them like a wall. They all covered their face with their sleeves, and even Teal'c's nose wrinkled uncomfortably. It was the pungent aroma of rotting decay.

"I've smelled rotting corpses that were more pleasant," Jack said. They stopped a healthy distance away, but Sam continued closer. "Jeeze, Carter, don't touch it!"

She quickly agreed. "No, sir." Sam took out her sample case, and very carefully placed a small sample inside. She seemed to screw the lid on extra tight.

"Make sure you have a few cans of air freshener on hand when you open that up again," Jack said.

Before she got up from her crouch, something caught Sam's eye. Most of the fallen tree was little more than chips, but a few larger pieces remained intact. Sort of.

Daniel grinned lewdly against the stench. "What is it?"

"This piece is hollow," she said. She looked up. "The whole thing must be gutted."

"Peachy," Jack said.

"Can we, maybe, go somewhere else? Like, you know, a place one of these might not fall on our heads at any moment?" Daniel kept looking up into the branches, waiting for another one to come down.

"Can't fault that logic," Jack said.

"No, sir."

No more trees came down. They passed a few shattered remains of ones that already collapsed, but that was it. There was no time wasted, and they reached the edge of the treeline with plenty of daylight to spare. In front of them was bare ground, stretching almost as far as the eye could see. About every thirty feet was a slightly triangular shaped growth about the size of a beach ball, half-buried in the ground. They were a mottled color, reds, blacks, and greens layered through them in random patterns.

Approaching, Jack tapped one with the barrel of his P90. "Feels like rock."

Sam kneeled by one, studying the bands of color. Teal'c came up beside her, studying the object for himself. He saw a couple thick tendrils at the base of the object, buried in the dirt. He frowned.

"Major Carter, are those not roots?"

Sam stood up, looking unsettled. She stared out across the field. "I think so."

"Carter?"

"Sir, these weren't here on the UAV flyover. None of this was here. The trees went all the way to the edge of that lake, bog, swamp, whatever you want to call it."

"You think the lake is receding?" Daniel said.

She shook her head. "We haven't gone far enough."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "You think these things 'grew' in the last few days? Who the hell wants to grow rocks?"

"Maybe," Sam took a lengthy pause as she looked around. "Maybe it's some form of mining, drawing the minerals up to the surface."

Daniel quickly stood from where he had been examining one of the rocks, and backed away.

"You mean, the ground could be as hollow as the trees back there?"

They all followed suit. Teal'c eyed the ground with suspicion.

Sam shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. This is way out of my league."

"Ok then," Jack said, "we go around."

_**Taken**_

It was a long detour going around rather than through. Sam managed to chip off a piece of one of the rocks. It revealed itself to be more porous on the interior, simliar to pumice. Was it some sort of capillary action that let it draw up such vast amounts of minerals from underground? Did it just suck up anything, or did it just target specific elements? Was that even possible?

"Well, now, there's something for you." Jack's exclamation brought Sam out of her musings. A short distance past the rock field appeared to be clumps of tall grass. Waving gently. There was no wind at all.

As they got closer it became clear that it wasn't grass that they were looking at. The clumps were made up of stalks of various sizes. Anywhere from a couple to nearly a dozen stalks grew out of a central plant. Most of the stalks seemed to be a reddish-orange color. Some were a dull blue or green. Each stalk was from as short as a foot to over four feet long. Some were cylindrical, around two inches thick. Others were flattened like leaves, as much as four inches wide and almost impossibly narrow. But all of them rippled and flexed to some inaudible rhythm.

There was a flash as something at the top of a nearby stalk reflected the sun. Sam wasn't the only one to notice. Daniel stepped forward, eyeing it curiously. "Is that... an eye?"

A sharp hiss pierced the air as Daniel stepped forward. Sam barely had time to start before Teal'c pulled Daniel back roughly by the shoulder. The longer stalks of the nearby bush stabbed into the ground where Daniel would have been. Sam could just make out opened mouths near the glistening eyes. Those that weren't flattened had become so instantly. Dirt flew as they stabbed the ground repeatedly. The smaller stalks spat some sort of fluid that only traveled a few inches.

"Daniel, are you ok?" Sam said.

She could see him shaking slightly from the adrenaline. "Uh, yeah. I'm ok. May need to change my underwear, though."

Sam smiled tightly, not amused.

All of the nearby clusters were hissing now, the stalks seeming to track their movements, stabbing tentatively into the air.

"Not cool!" Jack said sharply. "All right, nobody goes near anything. Got it?"

After the close call, Daniel and Sam could only nod. Teal'c eyed the nearby clusters with his staff weapon held defensively. "It is a most efficient defense mechanism."

"Working great," Daniel said as he made the 'ok' sign. There was still an audible waver in his voice. Sam gave him a sympathetic look, knowing he wouldn't shake that one off anytime soon. She sure as hell wouldn't.

They stayed clear of the aggressive plants. Animals? Sam didn't know how to classify what they were seeing. Whatever they were, they were potentially deadly. Maybe they shouldn't be there after all.

Sam didn't voice her doubts, knowing Jack could latch on any excuse to leave then and there. Despite her uncertainties, she couldn't think to back out now. Even Daniel had a certain determination in his eyes. Hoping to find whoever did this, she imagined. She certainly had a bunch of questions for them herself.

When they finally made it to the lake, the sun was making its way down. Sam wasn't really surprised to see more objects growing out of it. At that point she had thrown out any of the expectations she may have harbored. Plants barely jutted out of the liquid, clusters of dark red orbs sprouting from the ends.

At least, she mused, it didn't reek as bad as the trees had, despite the similar coloring.

"I assume those weren't here, either," Jack said.

Sam shook her head. "No sir."

She made her way to the water's edge. Teal'c remained beside her, and Sam gave him a quick smile. Knowing he was there made her a little less nervous. Who knew what exactly lurked under the murky surface? Her entire focus was on the 'water' before her.

The cap was barely on the container when Jack appeared at Sam's other side. "Anything else trying to kill us?"

"Sir! Jesus!" Sam tried to mask the pounding of her heart, but she did glare at him.

"Sor..." He stopped mid-word.

Orbs of a nearby plant inverted in on themselves. There was a vague shape of a face. The voice, however, was unmistakeably hers.

"Jesus," one said, Sam's voice issuing forth, slightly muted. Another spoke. "Sir."

"Sir, Jesus," another echoed.

The call rippled out from plant to plant, fading into the distance. After speaking, the faces reverted back to unassuming orbs. Sam stared at the nearby plant, stunned.

"Woah," Daniel said, keeping his voice low.

Jack cocked his head curiously. "Hello?"

He was greeted by a rippling chorus of "hellos" in his own voice. He looked at Sam, and she stared back at him.

"That's new," he said to her. Sam could only nod.

"Sounds like they, whatever they are, are just mimicking," said Daniel.

"Well I think they found their niche."

They backed away from the lake. It would be dark soon, and it was as good a place as any to set up camp. When the SGC checked in, they relayed their current status. They would continue to explore in the morning, and if they didn't find anything more significant they would start back to the gate. There was plenty to examine already when they got back to keep them busy for some time.

_**Taken**_

Jack felt a hand on his shoulder. He was awake immediately, rising to sit. It was dark save for the small fire.

"T?" Jack said. Kneeling beside him, Teal'c motioned for him to remain silent. Obeying, he listened. He made out a distant murmuring. Coming from the direction of the lake. Jack frowned. "What are they saying?"

"I do not know, it is no language that I recognize."

Grabbing his P90, Jack slid over and woke up Sam. She looked at him, but before she could ask she heard the noise. He got Daniel up before he spoke, whispering.

"Someone's coming." He started stamping out the fire. No point in advertising their location until they knew more.

"What are you doing?" Daniel said, also whispering.

Jack sighed, motioning out into the darkness. There was just enough light from the stars to make out shapes. "Do you know who's coming?"

"Of course I don't."

"Then we might not want to be found until we have a better idea." Sometimes he hated having to keep Daniel in check. But he knew the other man understood. He was just hopeful, not an idiot.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said.

Jack turned and saw the faint glow in the distance. It was too far away to make much out. All he could tell was that there were two figures. Both held some sort of small lantern. They were standing still. The nature of the chatter from the lake had grown more clipped. The light extinguished. Slowly, the plants went silent.

"They know we're here," Sam said.

And Jack had no idea if that was good or bad. "Yeah."

"Maybe we should announce ourselves," Daniel said. "This could get ugly fast from a simple misunderstanding. Hiding like this might seem aggressive."

"Or it might seem prudent." Jack muttered, but he knew there was some truth in what Daniel said.

"A decision must be made quickly," Teal'c said.

"We should try to talk, sir," Sam said. "If we can."

Jack rubbed at his forehead. God, he hoped they were right. "Ok."

He listened to Daniel take a deep breath. He spoke at a medium volume. "Hello? Don't be alarmed. We're peaceful explorers."

Daniel turned on his flashlight. Jack couldn't see them, but he could hear movement. The two had split up, flanking them.

"Hello?" Daniel spoke louder. "Can you understand me? My name is Daniel Jackson. We mean you no harm."

The lake echoed with Daniel's words, as if mocking them.

"Trajo ta!" The harsh yell came from their left. Jack brought his weapon up, aiming towards the sound.

"We don't understand you!"

The plants masked the noise of the other, who had entered the water. It yelled at the top of its lungs, and the plants echoed louder than he had heard them yet. "Kasa ra dore!"

"That's it," Jack said. He turned on the light attached to his gun. Sweeping the surrounding terrain, he saw movement in the water. The creature reached for something, tossing it with a sharp flick of its arm. Something buzzed past Jack's head. It landed in the distance with a heavy thud.

Sam had her own weapon at ready, and even Daniel was poised to act. Jack hissed. "Let's go."

There was another wooded area a few hundred feet from their position. They ran for it, needing some sort of cover. Every other direction was wide open.

"Any others in the viscinity will have heard the call," Teal'c said.

Just what Jack had thought. That one had called for reinforcements. Another reason he wanted to get away from the lake area. That's where they'd all be. The two chasing them shouted. At least now they had their lights back on. Jack spared a backwards glance to gauge the distance. Too close for his liking.

"We need to find a defensive position," Jack said between breaths. Looking back again, he only saw one light. "Damn it, one went missing."

Sam ran slightly ahead of him. He didn't hear the alien approach, only seeing it as it darted into the beam of his flashlight. It tackled Sam with a heavy crack. Jack heard her grunt as the air was forced from her lungs. Both crashed to the ground and rolled with the momentum.

It recovered impossibly fast, kneeling astride her. Even as Jack approached it was raising a knife up to strike. Only a few steps away, he couldn't take the time to shoot, so Jack continued to run and jammed the butt of his gun into the side of the alien's face. It collapsed heavily.

The thing was humanoid. Tall, with long dark hair. The skin was dark, almost the color of coal, and it wore some sort of body armor. It appeared dead. That was all the details he bothered to note.

"Carter!"

She had come to rest on her stomach. The blow snapped the strap that held her P90, and it had clattered into the distance. Teal'c held a covering position as Jack rolled her over. Sam was still gasping for air, unable to speak.

"Can you hear me, Carter?"

She nodded slowly and wheezed a reply. "Yeah."

"We need to keep moving. Can you walk?"

Jack glanced over his shoulder when he heard Teal'c's staff weapon. He saw the other alien duck behind a tree.

"I'm fine," Sam said, bringing his attention back.

"Sure you are." He didn't believe it for a second. The sound of the collision had been brutal. Jack and Daniel helped her to stand. Sam bit back a yelp at the movement. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to be gentle. "Ok?"

She just nodded. They pulled her into a hobbling trot. What they needed was a place to hide. But that was impossible as long as the other alien was breathing down their necks.

"Daniel, you got her?"

The other man nodded quickly. "Yeah, go."

Jack eased her arm from his shoulder. Sam gasped sharply.

"T," Jack said, "let's go get better acquainted with our friend here."

"As you wish."

Teal'c began a wide loop, not bothering with a light of his own. His jaffa senses often came in handy. Frustrated, and now more than a tad angry, Jack muttered as he took cover behind a tree and turned to attack.

"Miss Manners would _not_ approve of this kind of welcome." He watched the alien duck from tree to tree. It tossed another projectile. This one hit the tree Jack stood behind. It blew up a large hole in the tree, but did not penetrate through to the other side. The sudden release of the noxious sap made Jack's eyes water. The stench made him gag.

Jack fired towards the alien and dashed towards another tree. He heard the staff blast and saw the alien pitch to the ground. It stood back up, seemingly unhurt. What the hell was it wearing?

His own bullets made the alien stagger back, but none seemed to pierce the armor it wore. It reached for something wrapped around its bicep, but Teal'c's staff fire hit it in the face before the alien could reach it.

There was no time for relief. As soon as the silence descended, Jack could hear the distant shouts. See the flashes of light in the distance.

"Ah, hell."

_**Taken**_

Daniel could hear the pain with each breath Sam took. They didn't even know exactly what injuries she sustained yet. Sam did her best to match his gait, but her movements were stiff. He ushered her onward while looking for some place to stop. The trees were too far spread, and seemed to be thinning. Gunshots and staff blasts kept him moving. Then there was virtual silence. Daniel hoped it was a good sign.

It wasn't long before he heard footsteps approaching. Daniel spun around and leveled his sidearm.

"Easy, tiger," Jack said in a sharp whisper.

Daniel sighed. "Thank God."

"Don't be too happy. We got more on the way."

There was no way they'd be able to outrun their pursuers. And as yet there seemed nowhere to hide in hopes they'd be passed over. Unfortunately, this time, it didn't look like talking was going to help.

Jack once again took one of Sam's arms over his shoulder. Despite her obvious discomfort, she continued on without a word. Daniel wished there was more he could do than simply help keep her upright. Teal'c scouted ahead as they continued.

"How many?" Sam spoke through gritted teeth.

"Enough."

Daniel could start to hear the shouts behind them. It didn't sound like they had been spotted yet, but from the locations he could tell there were several different groups. It took them most of the day to reach their current location, how were they supposed to cover that distance unnoticed?

Daniel didn't know how long they continued on before Teal'c returned. "I have found a place to hide."

They followed him to a large fallen tree. This one remained far more intact than the others they had found, and the smell, though still strong, was starting to fade. Daniel didn't see anything until Teal'c shifted one of the branches, revealing a hollow that ran beneath the extensive root system. It was larger than Daniel thought, wide enough in most places to move side-by-side, and it went on far enough to hold them all.

Daniel entered first with Sam. Teal'c was last, pulling the branch back up behind him. For a moment they all simply crouched there, doing nothing but listening to each other's rapid breathing. Daniel watched the shadows the flashlight played against the dirt.

"Sir, was it really wise to stop?" Sam's tone made it obvious she already knew the answer, and it was also laced with guilt. Daniel almost sighed, it could have been any of them that got injured, and nothing they really could have done to stop it.

Jack replied anyway. "We couldn't have kept ahead of them even if we wanted. Besides, I already think we've gone far enough off track. Getting completely lost in the dark isn't going to help anyone. Now, where does it hurt?"

"Where doesn't it?"

"Sorry, Carter, you know I gotta..."

She nodded slowly, resigned. "Yeah."

Daniel shifted uncomfortably as Jack probed her injures. Sam flinched at every touch, her responses ranging from a hiss to a groan. When he got to her chest, she bit back a sharp yelp.

"I think you've got a couple fractured ribs. Otherwise, it all just feels like bruising."

Sam didn't bother to respond. She was close to tears.

The sound of voices made them all stiffen. Jack quickly shut off the flashlight. Daniel tried to listen, but it was too far away to make anything out. Not that it mattered, whatever they were speaking was like nothing he had heard before. It would have given him something else to focus on than their current predicament, and perhaps the the tone could give them some sort of hint at what was going on. He strained uselessly to hear.

These aliens were armed and armored, so they were ready for a fight. Instead of trying to understand, their first instinct seemed to be to attack. Had they done something to provoke the aliens? Or perhaps it had been unavoidable. He knew absolutely nothing about these creatures, so anything Daniel could think was merely supposition.

Even now Daniel thought they sounded angry, but that idea couldn't be trusted.

It was several minutes before the voices faded into the distance. The rest of the night passed in terse silence. Shafts of light began to filter in to their makeshift shelter. No more of the aliens had approached the area. Maybe, Daniel thought hopefully, they would stop looking. Not that he truly believed that. But he did hope.

"All right, let's blow this popsicle stand," Jack said.

_**Taken**_

Being still for so long had made Sam go stiff. Her battered body screamed at her as she finally stood upright. Every beat of her heart sent stabbing pain through her left side. Her right only ached horribly, she with a wry smile. When they got back to Earth she'd promptly curl up in the fetal position and weep. Until then, she just had to keep moving.

They didn't talk, as much to keep a low profile as there was nothing important to say. Sam wasn't even sure the direction they were heading. All she could think about was keeping her legs moving, she trusted the others to guide her.

Sam's world was reduced to her movements. Jack's hissed "damn it" got her attention, though. She scanned the surroundings, saw movement disappear into the distance. Had they been seen? The wooded area they were now in was sparse, but they couldn't have taken their original path anyway, there had been no cover from the edge of the forest to the lake. Just when she thought they might be ok, there was a shout from behind them.

"Kaza!"

She couldn't crane her head around far enough to see, but they were still a few hundred feet away. Distant shouts answered from all directions. They were surrounded with nowhere to go. Sam's heart sank.

"Sir?"

After glancing around, Jack pointed. "There."

They stopped in a small cluster of trees. Still more spread than she liked, Sam couldn't see any better position. She sagged against a tree as Jack readied his P90. Sam wished she still had hers. The sidearm she now clutched was a meager consolation. Each covered a direction. It would be their last act, of that Sam was certain.

The aliens were everywhere. Body armor ranging from deep reds to greens and blues. Weaving through the trees, slowly approaching. Sam held her fire, there was no point wasting ammunition at this distance. Their armor was proven, and from there she'd never be able to make it count.

At about thirty feet, ahead of most of the others, one of the aliens reached into a bandolier. Knowing it must be going for one of the projectiles, she fired. The shots glanced off its shoulder, spinning it around. That was when the attack truly started.

Roars echoed all around. Projectiles flew from all directions. From the distance, many were way off mark. But not all of them. The compromised trees shattered against the assault. Two succumbed, crashing heavily to the ground. Sam dropped to the ground with the others as splinters showered the air around them. Adrenaline masked the throbbing pain.

She got up on one knee. Still shouting, the aliens were charging their position. Several dozen. Sam leveled her gun and fired, nearly deafened by the gunshots filling the air. It took three rounds to drop the first. Four for the second. Her clip emptied before she could get the third. In the precious seconds it took to insert a new clip, they had closed the distance. She managed to deflect the knife meant for her chest. Another wielded some sort of whip, catching it on her other arm and yanking violently. Sam fell to the ground.

"Ana shola tak!" Several of the alien's were positioned to attack, but at the shout they all stopped. Sam was pinned under at least three. She couldn't see Jack, Daniel, or Teal'c. Though she was worried, she didn't dare to call out to them. Sam didn't dare to move for fear of provoking the aliens. Her gun had already been knocked away during the struggle.

The aliens stood and pulled Sam roughly to her feet. Her wrists were held firmly, though she had no intentions of fighting. Each of them was a foot taller than her. Their dark faces were marked with tattoos and scars, vaguely human save the flattened noses. She noticed a prominent scar on each of their foreheads, not unlike a jaffa tattoo. But even of the three around her each one was different. One looked like a backwards Y, another a V with two dots to either side, the third a vertical slash that disappeared into the hairline.

Through their burly frames, she could just make out the others. Bruised and bloodied, but alive. It was a quick moment as rough hands searched her. Pockets were torn open, everything she carried dumped on the ground. Every squeeze and prod of her body made Sam cry out, she had long since passed her limit.

One tore at the watch on her wrist. It didn't give way, but the alien continued to yank at it viciously. Sam screamed.

"Hey!"

"Come on!" Jack and Daniel shouted at the same time, but were held in place. Teal'c made very little progress against his captors. He stared daggers into the ones in her direction.

The alien stopped, spoke briefly.

"I can take the damn thing off," Sam said. As soon as she started to reach a heavy hand slapped her face. Her head snapped back and he fell to her knees. Her arm wrenched further as the other alien never let go of her wrist. And it continued to pull. Sam gritted her teeth, but couldn't hold back the cry. Just when she thought her wrist would shatter, the pin snapped and the band came free. Sam clutched her arm protectively as she glared at the alien. It ignored her, tossing the watch to the ground in a look of disgust. The watch was then pulverized under its heel.

"Preta." The one that spoke stood apart from the rest, clearly some sort of leader. It wore a mask, a dark red hood covered with spikes and swirling patterns in blue. Short tentacles sprouted from the chin line that waved continuously. At the command they were ushered along. Two held Sam's arms and pulled her along. She was hard pressed to keep the pace. The others were similarly dragged.

"Everyone ok?" Jack called out. One of the alien's escorting him snarled. It wasn't hard to interpret the warning. Jack spoke quickly. "We'll talk later."

While no more than a couple hours had elapsed, for Sam it may as well have been an eternity. Her body was a throbbing mass, and they had long since been dragging her along. Her eyes were tightly shut, so she didn't see the cluster of buildings as they approached. Not traditional buildings, but they appeared more like shells for some sort of giant creatures. One towered over the rest, and that was where they were taken. Sam barely looked up in time to see the dull gray exterior.

There was a fleshy texture to the walls as they traversed the circling corridors. A quality to the air that left Sam feeling vaguely nauseous. But all she cared about was stopping. Right there on the questionable floor, that would be just fine with her.

_**Taken**_

They were taken into a large, open room. It was lit by some unidentifiable source, light seemed to suffuse the very walls around them. Daniel grunted as he was jerked to a stop in the middle of the room. Sam was dropped to the floor at his side. She barely reacted.

He tried to go to her but was quickly stopped. "Hey!"

"Saat!" the masked alien shouted, slapping Daniel across the face before he had time to react. Daniel tasted blood, but remained silent. Dark green eyes narrowed at him from behind the mask.

"Rana tel, dalak."

Daniel didn't notice the other occupant of the room until then. This one wore armor that was almost obsidian, gleaming spikes raising out of each shoulder. From the spikes draped a red cape that brushed the floor. One hand was missing two fingers, its face heavily scarred with symbols Daniel couldn't hope to understand. Dark hair was pulled back in a severe tail.

The masked alien snapped both fists to its chest, bowing its head slightly. "Beliek tiu, sepo."

"Gosha tizo'na." The caped alien held out a hand, another alien quickly placed something in it with a bow. It looked like a fat grub. Daniel squirmed, pulling a sharp face when it proceded to tilt its head to the side and place the grub into its ear.

"Ew," said Jack.

The alien simply stood there for several long moments, appearing in deep thought. "My servant... offends?"

Heavily accented, it seemed to consider each word carefully.

"You can understand us?" Daniel said in shock. No one else had shown any hint of knowing English. There was hope. If they could truly communicate, maybe Daniel could explain, get them out of there.

"Tizo'na," it stopped, realizing it had slipped back into its language. "Tizo worm teaches."

"There's been a horrible misunderstanding. We came here in peace."

The alien frowned. "Peace? Tizo'na cannot understand."

Daniel wasn't sure how to take the fact that of all words, it didn't understand peace. "We didn't come here to attack you. We came to understand you."

"You fight us. You understand."

"No, we don't. We don't even know who you are."

"We are Yuuzhan Vong."

Jack stepped forward, didn't get far. "Look, we're not your enemy. If you just let us go..."

"Kasoka chel!" Teeth bared. "You are infidel!"

"Infidel?" Daniel said. "Whatever we did wrong, we didn't mean to. You can't expect us to know your culture."

"Enough." The alien looked down at Sam. She watched on the floor through hooded eyes. "This one will stand."

"She's hurt," Jack said quickly.

It was unimpressed. "Prefer dead? Stand!"

Daniel clenched his fists. Sam groaned, hissing as she pushed up on her hands. By the time she stood, her face was deathly pale where the darkening bruises hadn't reached. She wavered ominously.

It turned to Daniel. "You are leader. You give me information."

Jack cleared his throat. "No, I am leader."

"Information."

Jack raised a finger. "Ah, ah. Information, please."

It grabbed Jack by the neck, slamming him into the wall. Its face was bare inches from Jack's. "Information, now."

"Better." Jack wheezed the word through the tight grip. Daniel frowned at him, this was not the time to provoke.

"How do you come here?" It eased back slightly as it spoke.

"I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

It snarled. "You come to sabotage."

"No, we didn't even know you were here. We don't even know what you're doing. Why would we sabotage you?" Daniel tried to take some of the pressure off of Jack. Tried to give it something to placate it. He kept watch of Sam out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look well.

"Daniel..." Jack's voice was sharp with warning.

"You do not know." The alien seemed pleased, but only for a moment. "Where is your ship? How does it fly unnoticed?"

"Romulan cloak," Jack said. "Top notch technology."

"Technology." The alien spat. "Heresy."

"Heresy? But you have to be very technologically advanced to terraform this planet like you have." Daniel was confused. However, he seemed to have said the wrong thing.

The alien now had a knife to Daniel's throat, its eyes wild.

"Stop! I'm the leader, damn it. Me! Don't you dare touch him!" Jack shouted frantically as two Yuuzhan Vong held him down.

"You dare call our creations technology?"

Daniel could barely find his voice. "I didn't mean to offend you."

The Yuuzhan vong snarled. The knife was slowly sheathed. "Go, consider well the outcome of further deception. Hathik delana to."

The guards took them away.

_**Taken**_

As soon as SG-1 failed to respond when check in time came, Hammond ordered the UAV prepped. He knew better than to think it might be some simple equipment malfunction. MALP readings had shown no atmospheric changes, so there was something else at fault. Until they figured out what that something was, he could only frown at the monitors.

The UAV cleared the forest in record time. It was receding, Hammond realized, and in its wake were vast fields of things he couldn't possibly identify. The technicians were equally at a loss, readings showing vital functions even on the rocky masses.

"Sir, we've got movement ahead," Davis said.

Several figures stood below looking up at the UAV. Very obviously not SG-1, especially when they scattered. Hammond didn't like it.

They came upon the lake, now sprouting thousands of plants. In the distance he saw buildings. How did these people make everything so fast? There was no sign of SG-1, but he had little doubt they were in one of those buildings. If they were anywhere at all. He hoped for the former.

Suddenly, the UAV jerked to the left. "What was that?"

Davis looked at the readouts frantically. "I don't know, sir. Controls are responding... but nothing's happening."

It was still midair, pulling sharply left, when everything went black.

"Did it crash?" Hammond said.

"I don't know, sir. We lost all signals. It's... it's as if it just disappeared."

The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Shut it down."

_**Taken**_

Commander Yanog of domain Typ removed the tizo worm from his ear once more and handed it to a nearby warrior. The creature created a psychic link with its user, able to translate various languages it had learned. He used it now in solitude to strengthen his abilities with his captives' language. The syntax was awkward and completely unintuitive. It disgusted him.

They disgusted him.

At least they had fought, even if their weapons were reprehensible. That much he could respect. But to use technology, machines, he could think of nothing worse. It proved why they had been guided to this galaxy in the first place. They needed to be taught. Or they needed to die.

That they had circumvented detection for so long was an embarrassment to him. One the Prefect in the recently arrived world ship would not take lightly. Yuuzhan Vong presence on the planet had been minimal until production had been established to lower the chances of detection. The scouts had studied the planet extensively before deciding upon it. No one had come there during their study. So why did they come now?

The infidel, the human, had said they didn't know the Yuuzhan Vong were there. It was clearly a lie, the coincidence far too perfect to be just that. Perhaps they had already lost the element of surprise. This was an advance scout, and he had to find their point of ingress before more arrived.

Subaltern Gol of domain Calop rushed into the room, snapping his fists in salute. His mask fluttered anxiously. "Commander, an infidel machine was spotted performing reconnaisance in the sky. Dovin basals were able to bring it down in a singularity, but not before it approached our base."

"What?" How much were they able to learn? Yanog seethed.

"Warriors near the ring report that it was glowing during this time. Another machine was nearby, and has been destroyed. Perhaps this is how they arrive undetected?"

They had considered destroying the object when they arrived, but it was made of an element that was difficult to shatter. Clearly, they should have done something else with it.

"Bury it. Post a watch to ensure it causes no further trouble. I want all patrols doubled, no more interference will be tolerated."

Gol bowed with his salute, backing out as he spoke. "It will be done."

"Bring me the Prefect's villip." A warrior quickly left to retrieve the object. He returned with an orb roughly the size of a head, and placed it on a stand that came to chest level. Yanog bid his guards to leave with a curt nod of his head, he did not wish his shame to be witnessed. He stroked an indent in the top of the fleshy orb, signaling to the corresponding villip on the Prefect's ship. And waited for it to be answered.

The orb inverted on itself from the indent, taking on the shape of a Yuuzhan Vong head. The Prefect eyed him and Yanog bowed his head, knowing the villip on the ship would translate the gesture.

"Speak."

"Prefect, the infidels have recently sent machines to further spy on our contingent. These machines have since been neutralized."

The Prefect's eyes narrowed. "You allowed more to enter our world? You disappoint me, Commander."

"Beliek tiu, Prefect," Yanog said in contrition. "However, I believe we have discovered how they have arrived here. A device. This ring has been buried to prevent further incursions, and is now under guard."

The Prefect considered the words. "And the prisoners, what have they revealed?"

"They claim not to have known of our presence on this world." Yanog narrowed his eyes. "I do not believe this."

"No," he agreed, "it is clearly deception. Learn what you can of them, but leave them intact. Shaper Viliz Tan has want of them."

Yanog couldn't stop his teeth from baring momentarily at the intrusion. What could the shapers want with his prisoners? But it was an order, so he bowed his head. "As you will."

"Do not fail me again." The villip reverted before Yanog could respond.

_**Taken**_

Their cell was another fleshy room whose door closed not unlike an organic iris. There were no features, no beds or anything else. The walls curved, the room more oval than square. Teal'c only had to glance to see all there was to see.

Sam had all but passed out, moaning slightly. They moved to the far side of the room in an effort not to disturb her.

"What are we going to do?" Daniel said.

Jack looked at him sternly. "Not give them anymore freebies, for starters."

"Daniel Jackson could not know the import of his information," Teal'c said. Without knowing the motives of their captors, it was impossible to tell what they would find valuable. He also knew that Daniel had spoken out of desperation, the intention noble.

"That's kind of the whole point, T. Don't tell them anything. Especially not the whole how the hell we got here. Then, _maybe_, we can get the hell back."

Daniel didn't look convinced. Teal'c understood, and knew even Jack doubted his own words. The size of this operation suggested numbers far greater than they had yet encountered, and the SGC had nowhere near the manpower to take that on, even if the General could get permission for such an undertaking. There was virtually no chance for a small strike force to find them, break them out, and escape.

However, it was their only option.

"So what do you think that whole technology thing was all about?" Daniel said, finally breaking the stern silence that fell.

"Obviously not fans," said Jack.

Teal'c had been giving that some thought himself. "As yet, I have noticed no objects or devices of a mechanical nature."

Even their knives appeared somehow... organic.

"Now that you mention it," Daniel said. He frowned. "But, how can possibly _everything_ they have be bioengineered?"

"Whatever the form of their knowledge, they are highly advanced. As well as agressive."

Jack nodded at Teal'c. "We landed ourselves in a base."

"How can you know that?" Daniel said.

"There's this little matter of they're all armed to the frigging teeth. Oh, and hello, adamantium body armor!"

"They are an alien species, it's dangerous to make assumptions based on a human standpoint."

"Whatever their motivations," Teal'c said, "they are dangerous. That they do not wish to be discovered is also unsettling."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "Yeah. This is one time where I certainly wouldn't mind getting the hell out of here."

"You can say that again," Jack said.

It had been no more than a few hours before guards returned to retrieve them. Teal'c aided Sam, his cold gaze apparently enough to keep the Yuuzhan Vong from objecting. He would have carried her had she allowed, but Sam was awake and sticking to her pride. Strength seemed important to these aliens and she also seemed to realize this. Teal'c just wished that she didn't have to, knowing that her pain was substantial.

The Yuuzhan Vong leader watched them enter the room, a smile on his frayed lips. Teal'c stiffened at the gesture.

"Your machines are destroyed. Your attempt at distraction has failed."

His gaze moved between each of them in turn, waiting for a response. No one spoke. He must mean the MALP, or even the stargate, but Teal'c's face betrayed none of his dismay. If they had yet to destroy the stargate, it was only a matter of time before they realized it was significant.

The lack of reaction seemed to bother the leader. "The ring will cause us no more trouble."

"What?" Sam said before she could stop herself.

His eyes widened. "Yes, then it is as we thought."

"Look here, Mr. Vong..." Jack said.

"Yuuzhan Vong," he replied sharply.

"Yuuzy, you got it all wrong. That ain't gonna stop us." Jack sent him a challenging look.

"Tell me of your world."

"Uhhh, don't think so."

"Sva." The leader nodded his head towards Daniel. One of the guards gripped his neck.

"Daniel!" Sam said. The guard held her shoulder tightly.

Teal'c's lip twitched, barely able to restrain himself.

Jack eyed the leader dangerously. "Let him go."

"What military strength can your people martial?"

"Enough to send you packing," Jack said.

The Yuuzhan Vong narrowed his eyes. "This I do not believe."

"Your problem, pal. Not mine."

Teal'c was vibrating as he watched Daniel out of the corner of his eye. His lips had tinged blue and he was barely able to pull at the hand choking him. Just before Teal'c acted, the Yuuzhan Vong signaled and Daniel was let go.

Daniel dropped to his hands and knees, coughing and gasping for air.

"Do not try my patience. You will find it lacking."

"Right back at you."

The leader walked forward deliberately. He pulled Daniel's head back by his hair, punching him squarely in the face. Blood gushed from his busted lip.

With a feral yell Teal'c pulled free of his guards. They were an instant too slow to grab him, and Teal'c was across the room with his own fist reared back before any of them could stop him. The leader turned, and most of the blow was deflected, glancing off the side of his face. The creature coiled around the leader's armored bicep began to wind its way down to his hand. Teal'c grabbed it and tossed it away before it could complete its journey. He didn't have the chance to register that it resembled those shifting stalks they had encountered.

The room erupted in chaos.

The leader was capable, returning the assault he was receiving. He also had the advantage of armor, Teal'c had a very limited area of attack. The Yuuzhan Vong had Teal'c's entire body to target. A sharp blow to his symbiote pouch stunned Teal'c for an instant. Guards piled on him, punching and kicking and biting. Soon everything went dark.

_**Taken**_

Viliz Tan entered at the end of the fray, just in time to see Commander Yanog jump to his feet, enraged. Blood trickled from his torn ear. She watched the warriors pulling their captives out of the dog pile that had ensued. No one had escaped without some sort of injury. Her lekku, the headdress that all shapers wore made of many tentacles, knotted in contempt.

"Can you not even control a small handful of prisoners?"

Yanog kicked the dark prisoner, who was already unconscious. "It is under control."

"Yes," her voice was full of false sincerity, "I see that now."

"What interest do you have in these infidels? What use are they to you?"

Viliz walked forward, her living robe trailing on the floor. It was dark blue with swirls of purples and reds. She looked at the prisoners. Only the dark one was at all physically imposing. The others left much to be desired.

"Likely none," she said. What she and other shapers had been instructed to find was rare from their information. But master shaper Nen Yim had insisted, and she had the ear of the Supreme Overlord himself.

The humans eyed her curiously. Viliz didn't acknowledge it. "I suppose there is enough blood to sample."

Yanog's mouth twitched at the subtle insult.

Her adept, Kezan Kwaad, stood just behind her, bowing at her tacit command. He moved forward, beginning with the older man, he reached his shaper hand out to collect a sample. The warriors held him more tightly as he started to shrink back.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" the man said.

Viliz spoke their language. "We shall see if your kind have any redeeming qualities."

He flinched as the adept gathered blood from an open wound. The tactile nodes on one of his shaper fingers tasted it, identifying the elements within. His headdress twisted in contemplation before he ran his hand over a textured pad he held, recording his data within the creature. The process was repeated on the brown haired man.

Kezan stopped at the unconscious man. "This one is different. I believe, a jaffa?"

The captives perked at the word jaffa, the only word they were able to understand. The older man pushed at the warriors.

"You leave him alone."

Viliz ignored him. The dark man was rolled on his back. With a nod from her, Kezan raised his shirt. A cross-shaped pouch was revealed on his chest. For their purposes, he would not do.

"Finish," she said, "let us be done here."

After sampling the woman, he studied the pad intently. Then sampled once more. His headdress fluttered.

"Adept," Viliz said. She came forward, taking the pad from his hand. Frowned at it. She sampled for herself to be certain.

This was what they were looking for? This frail creature? It didn't seem worth it. The woman's eyes were wide under her scrutiny. Viliz supposed that it had to be done.

"She is to be broken," Viliz said to Yanog. She then spoke in their language again, not hiding her disgust. "This one is lacking."

_**Taken**_

Sam frowned. Lacking? The Yuuzhan Vong that spoke, female by Sam's guess, had already left the room with her assistant. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The leader gave an order, and the guards holding Sam started to pull her towards the exit.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she said. He did not acknowledge her in any way.

Jack fought against his guards, got nowhere. "Where do you think you're taking her."

"She is unworthy," the leader said. "She is nothing."

"Let go of me!" Sam tried to shake free. Wherever they were going she knew didn't want to be. Jack and Daniel's protests faded as she was pulled through the corridors. Taken away from where they had been held before. She was thrown into another room. A very small room.

It was no more than ten feet in diameter. She stared at the walls. What were they doing? What did it mean to be unworthy? Nothing? Was this the last thing she was ever going to see?

Sam's heart pounded in her chest. She was frantic. Pacing the confines of her prison, she tried to think. There was nothing she could do, no way to stop whatever was going to happen. But she had to do something. The need to do something made her vibrate. She couldn't make herself calm down.

When she could take it no more, Sam went to the door and pounded on the opening. All the effort got her were sharp throbs of pain that echoed through her abused body. She kicked it one last time with a loud yell. The sound seemed to absorb into the walls, and the impotence of the action caused her dismay.

Sam backed away from the door, sitting against the far wall. She had long since lost track of time before she fell into an uneasy sleep. And the second she heard the subtle slurp of the door, she was on her feet.

"What's going on?" The two guards ignored her words. Likely didn't even understand. They grabbed her, and Sam struggled out of obligation. The futility of her actions only drove Sam to new heights of desperation. They threw her into yet another room, the entrance sealing shut behind her. Sam immediately turned and slapped the wall with both hands.

"Come on!" Sam shouted to the guards on the other side of the door, if they were even still there. She had had enough of these games.

As she stood there staring at the sealed door, she heard a thudding whisper throughout her body. Felt it. Sam thought it was her heart, but came to realize it was too slow. Too steady. A rhythm that seemed to permeate the very atoms that surrounded her. Squeezing her. Sam froze. She heard breathing.

Long, slow inhalations. Exhaling with a soft rumble.

Turning slowly, ever so slowly, she could only blink at the creature on the far side of the room. Vaguely spherical, its body had a texture not unlike a human brain. It was over twice her height, covered with hundreds of tentacles. Some were short and thick, others extremely long and almost impossibly slender. Obsidian eyes, dozens of them, stared at her lidlessly. The creature was about thirty feet away, but it didn't feel nearly far enough.

Sam didn't dare to move. She watched the tentacles flex slightly. Listened to its breathing. Felt what she could only assume was its heartbeat. Dread filled her. So much that she could barely think. Too much. Yes, she was scared, but this was unnatural. Sam cocked her head, could this thing be affecting her somehow?

A tentacle whipped up, suddenly slapping the floor. Sam jumped.

_**Unworthy**__._ The word was an ethereal hiss. Not spoken, it filled her head.

"Says who?" Sam tried to sound more certain than she felt.

_**Weak.**_

Sam narrowed her eyes. She wanted to say something, to refute, but nothing seemed adequate. Besides, she _was_ weak. No matter what she did, she would never compare to Teal'c or the others. It barely registered to Sam that the creature was manipulating her. Somehow exagerating her responses. "Get out of my head."

_**Your friends will die for your failings.**_

"No," Sam said, overwhelmed with guilt. She tried to take a step back and immediately bumped into the wall. The tentacles wormed their way closer but Sam was oblivious to them. This was her fault. All her fault.

A tentacle grazed Sam's neck. An image, just a brief flash, filled her head. She saw the bodies of her teammates. Eviscerated. Awash in a sea of blood. She saw them clearly, Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c, their faces frozen in expressions of agony. The guilt filled her, flooded her. She was drowning in it. Sam struggled to breathe.

"Stop it!" Sam's voice wavered. "Stop it!"

_**They would be free if not for you.**_

More images of death filled her mind, as well as dispair. If only she had been more than dead weight. She had slowed them down. They had had to stop because of her. Why couldn't she have been stronger? Hot tears ran down her face. Sam couldn't see the absurdity of her own thoughts. The creature played on the doubts that Sam had harbored most of her life. Needling into the cracks of her own insecurities, emphasizing them. Expanding them. She couldn't fight it, because at her core she believed it all.

_**You killed them.**_

It mocked her. It taunted her. Over and over she saw them suffer, saw them die. Saw herself fail. Always failing when they needed her most. Guilt, dispair, and fear were all that existed. Filling her beyond bursting. Sam's head pounded.

_**Worthless.**_

_**Taken**_

Jacob watched the hyperspace window streak around them, his face drawn tight. Hammond had contacted the Tok'ra, told them of how SG-1 had gone missing while exploring strange occurrances on a planet. Once uninhabited, someone was there now. And to top everything off they could no longer even dial the stargate.

His stomach had been in knots ever since. Not even Selmak was a match for this dread.

Their nearest ship had been severay days travel from the planet. Jacob had insisted on going himself, meeting the cargo ship at a stargate along its course. No way he would stand back while his own daughter was in danger. They had no idea what condition SG-1 was in.

**It is best to try to remain objective until we have more information.** Selmak was worried just the same, but trying to use her reason to keep it in check.

Jacob wasn't feeling particularly reasonable. But Selmak _was_ right, as she so often had a habit of doing. He nodded to himself, and exhaled sharply.

Pallok, who sat beside Jacob, started only slightly at this outburst. He watched the controls intently as he tried to avoid upsetting the other man. It had been a very long and quiet journey.

"We will be arriving shortly," Pallok said with obvious relief.

Jacob edged forward in his seat. They came out of hyperspace, and he blinked. Arriving as close to the planet as they had dared, the large object orbiting was plainly visible. It looked like rock, as if an asteroid of unprecedented proportions. It hung in front of the planet, forboding.

Looking down, Jacob saw the readout of an energy signature. Rapidly building. "Shit!"

He activated the ship's cloak and changed their trajectory in one frantic motion. Moments later several flashes were seen at the side of the asteroid. Projectiles tore through the space they would have occupied, rapidly cooling hunks of molten slag.

"That's a ship?" Pallok said. They both turned to each other with wide eyes.

"A very big one." Two Goa'uld motherships could have been housed inside, with room to spare.

Smaller objects began to detach from the ship. Fighters, Jacob immediately guessed as they broke off into formations. But they focused on the assumed path of the cargo ship, clearly unable to detect them now. They still had a chance.

"We need to go to the planet," Jacob said. If SG-1 wasn't down there still, then they were already lost.

The thought left him cold.

_**Taken**_

Returned to the world ship, Prefect Lan'sho rushed to the yammosk's den. Agitated, the war coordinator's tentacles writhed on the floor. Its eyes immediately locked on Lan'sho and it exhaled sharply. He came forward, stopping to stroke the creature's fleshy mass before gently touching his hand to the prominent blue vein that ran between its two middle eyes.

"Show me."

Lan'sho's consciousness expanded to that of the yammosk. He could see each coralskipper, the manned fighters that now patrolled for this unknown presence. Connected to the yammosk's mind, to its will, they flew in perfect synchronization. The search pattern radiated out from the last known location, focusing on the most likely trajectories. But they found no sign of this object.

"Continue to search," Lan'sho said. He stroked the yammosk once more, attempting to soothe. "We will find it."

_**Taken**_

Jack paced their prison. He couldn't keep still. It was impossible to truly keep track of time, but it had been days since they last saw Sam. Every time they were taken to this leader, who had since identified himself as Commander Yanog of domain Typ, Jack always demanded to know what had been done with her. Yanog never said more than that she had been found unworthy. Jack's mind kept running to the same conclusion, she was dead.

Sparing a glance at the others, he knew they both also feared the worst.

Teal'c had awoken shortly after the fray. They had been interrogated several more times since then, coming back each time with more injuries. The Commander was becoming more and more volatile. Jack knew it was just a question of time before he snapped and decided they weren't worth his time. It only made him more angry to know he couldn't do anything for his team. Not even the two he could still see.

Guards returned once more and dragged them back to the room they were all so well acquainted with now. Jack locked eyes with Yanog.

"Carter," he said simply.

The Yuuzhan Vong snarled sharply. "Yun-Yammka will gorge himself on your blood."

Jack didn't so much as blink.

"Who is Yun-Yammka?" Daniel said. Jack didn't understand how he could still care.

"Yun-Yammka is the Slayer, and he shall devour your souls. A small sacrifice, but perhaps he shall find you fitting. I will enjoy seeing you die."

"This Slayer is your deity? Please tell us about him. Let us understand your people." Jack saw it now, Daniel was stalling. Probing.

Either Yanog saw through it too, or he was simply through with them. "The time for talk is over. The priests await your presence."

For the first time since their capture, they were taken outside. Twilight had descended. Jack eyed the display. A large altar had been placed in the open area between the buildings. The altar itself was black, but long slender spikes like bleached bone jutted out towards the sky. Only the outer edges could be stood on, the middle rose up like a pillar.

The four Yuuzhan Vong at the base wore long black kilts that dragged behind them in long trains. Other than that, their bodies were on full display. Even more than Yanog, or any other Yuuzhan Vong they had yet seen, these were covered in scars and tattoos almost entirely. Jack looked at one who had had both ears removed. In their place collections of black spikes had been grafted, fanning out to give the vague impression of ears.

They chanted in their gutteral language. One grabbed an exotic dagger from the altar and spoke louder. He made one clean swipe through his palm, and clenched his fist so the blood dripped to the altar below. Each priest repeated the action, their blood pooling together.

Teal'c's head cocked curiously, and Jack frowned at him. Only a second later he heard it too. A familiar noise. The Yuuzhan Vong gathered looked up at the whining hum of energy. Each held their weapons more tightly at the unexplained noise.

Jack and Teal'c inched closer together, sandwiching Daniel between them.

When the cargo ship suddenly materialized there were shouts of alarm. The warriors threw their projectiles up, but against the hull they were all but useless. It only took moments for the transport rings to descend. One of the nearby guards didn't move, and was vaporized against the matter stream.

The rings had barely receded back into the hull when Jacob spoke. "Where's Sam?"

"I don't know," Jack said. They were already re-cloaked, and climbing out of the atmosphere.

"You don't know?"

Daniel wiped his face with both hands. "They took her away and won't tell us what they did with her. We haven't seen her in days."

Jack was between the two Tok'ra. Desperate, he waved at the console. "Can't you... scan or something?"

Jacob turned to look at Jack, incredulous. "We have been."

"Well, try again."

"Ships are already descending into the atmosphere. If we remain we may well be spotted," the other Tok'ra said.

Jack scowled. "We can't just leave her. Jacob, come on."

"Jack, Pallok's right." Jacob's voice was weary.

"What the hell is that?" Daniel peered out of the cockpit in disbelief. Jack looked up at the imposing object that hung in the distance.

"Their ship," Jacob said.

Jack perked up. "Have you looked there?"

"You are insane," Pallok said. Jack didn't even acknowledge him.

"We'd have to practically crawl up inside that thing to do a proper sensor sweep."

Jack merely cocked his head at Jacob. "And what's the problem?"

"We have no idea what kind of sensors they use, or anything about their technology for that matter. But even Goa'uld sensors could pick us up at that distance if they were looking. These guys know we're here already."

"This is Carter we're talking about." They needed to stay and find her.

"I don't like it, Jack. But this is a far bigger matter than just us now. We need to get what information we have back to Earth and the Tok'ra high council."

Jacob's reasoning didn't sway him. "She's your daughter, for crying out loud!"

Jacob slapped the panel in front of him and stood. He turned and looked Jack dead in the eye. Jack met his gaze. Several moments passed before Jacob's head drooped, and Selmak took control.

"And if she's on that ship, Colonel, what then? We attack?"

"If that's what it takes."

Selmak's eyes widened. "Do you even hear yourself? This ship is unarmed. We have a handful of weapons between us. There is nothing more we can do here at this time."

"Selmak is correct," Teal'c said, trying to diffuse the situation.

Jack didn't care about rationale. "Must be nice not to give a shit."

Selmak's eyes flashed brightly, and Jack found himself shoved against the near bulkhead before he could react. The Tok'ra held him tightly against the wall.

"Don't," Selmak warned sharply, "don't you dare presume that my feelings for Samantha are any less profound than Jacob's own. She is as my own child. All that may be accomplished here now is our own deaths, and that will not help Samantha in any way. If you truly think I am any less pained by this than you are, then you do not know me nearly as well as you suppose."

Selmak stared at him long and hard until Jack had to blink. Furious, he shoved away the Tok'ra, and Selmak let him. Jack stormed away towards the cargo room. When Daniel tried to speak, Jack simply pushed past him. He slapped the control pad heavily, shutting the door, and then screamed.

_**Taken**_

The yammosk vibrated in its den. Dozens of slaves massaged its tentacles, desperate to appease the creature. Tending to the beast was an arduous task, as its psychic energy bled into the workers. Sometimes it simply played with them for recreation, manipulating their emotions, or simply instructing them where or how to massage. Now they were simply bombarded by its agitation.

Despite its mental powers, the yammosk was a deceptively simple creature. Bred for a singular purpose, it's only imperative was to protect the dovin basals slaved to it. The dovin basals were able to manipulate gravity, serving as propulsion for the vessels that the Yuuzhan Vong employed. They could latch onto objects, even at great distances, and 'pull' the vessels towards them. Or, their energy could be focused to form micro singularities that could be used for defense, absorbing attacks.

By coordinating their efforts, it could ensure minimum losses to those under its care.

The yammosk was bonded to Lan'sho, an integral process for the effectiveness of a war coordinator. It trusted him completely, his orders and his intuition. Lan'sho had assured the yammosk that this invisible anomaly was a threat to its brood. That every step must be taken to locate and destroy it.

And because its charges were in danger from this unknown entity, the yammosk could not be soothed. The slaves' efforts were futile. It tracked the presence of each dovin basal intently. Devised patrols of maximum efficiency. There were at least a dozen coralskippers in every wing, and none were ever far from another contingent.

One wing picked up an energy trail. Faint. But the yammosk immediately recognized the signature from the previous events. With a keening wail, it reared up on several large tentacles. Slaves were sent flying. Those that could fled to the walls, banging on the closed door to be let out. Tentacles slapped down, the force killing three instantly.

Another wing found the trail again further off. Like a bloodhound, the yammosk clung to the scent. The coralskippers flew in seemingly random patterns. Each time they came across the signature it recalculated trajectories, refined the search. Other wings were worked in sweeping arcs in an attempt to trap the ship once located.

There was a burst of energy, an opening of a hyperspace window, near one of the patrols. The coralskippers fired, but the ship had already disappeared.

The yammosk roared.

_**Taken**_

Jacob swore to himself as he entered hyperspace. He and Selmak had barely seen it in time. The Yuuzhan Vong ships were almost on top of them before the flanking maneuver had revealed itself. Somehow their position had been tracked, and the effort masked in the multitude of patrols that passed by. Their coordination was staggering, as if each ship responded to the others intuitively.

After dropping everyone off at the nearest safe stargate, Jacob had returned to try and gather more information. In the wild hope of figuring out what had happened to Sam. As well as what these aliens were really up to. But it had taken less than a day for him to be discovered, and he had seen very little in that time.

All he knew was that they were all in trouble. That much seemed unmistakeable.

_**Taken**_

Sam laid on the floor, curled up tightly against the wall. Everything was a blur. She didn't really remember being taken up to the ship. In truth, she barely recalled the further sessions with the creature. She just came out more lost, more defeated. Sleep had been replaced by horrific nightmares, and she always awoke in tears. She could almost swear the thing was still in her head.

Why didn't they just kill her already? God, she wished they would. Hadn't she caused enough suffering? Sam supposed that death was simply too good for her. She deserved this pain in her chest, the guilt that felt like it was rotting away her insides. Why had she ever thought she deserved to be seen as equal?

The door slid open. Sam didn't move, didn't even open her eyes. Let them do what they will. She didn't even consider struggling, there was no point. She killed the ones she held as close as her own family. This was her comeuppance.

Nothing happened for a long time. Finally, curiosity got the best of her and Sam opened her eyes. She saw the woman from the base standing there. Simply looking at her. Sam watched the lazy swaying of her serpentine headdress. She let the movement lull her.

"Why are you doing this?" Sam said.

"To show you why you are unworthy."

"I know why I'm unworthy."

The woman gave the barest of nods. "Good."

"Kill me."

Sam's plea seemed to amuse her. "No."

"Why not? You said yourself that I'm unworthy."

"No, you are not worthy," she said. "Yet. But you will be."


	2. Lost 1

**AN: I was going to post each part altogether as I finished them, but decided to post them in sections since otherwise it could easily be a few weeks before this chapter was done. So, the beginning of Part 2: Lost**

It was a largely insignificant planet on the fringes of Lord Yu's domain. Mined to near depletion, the time and labor required made what little naquadah that remained almost too costly to be of value. In a few short years the operation would be scuttled and the planet largely abandoned. There was no strategic military value to maintain a presence when they were finished.

One ha'tak hovered in orbit. The ship was not a main staple of the planet's defense and in a few short days it would be shoring up defenses on Baral. Bastet had been testing the borders between their two territories, no significant attacks but she was plainly probing for an opening. Gylara had only to finish his assessment of the mine.

Unbeknownst to Yu, Gylara was in fact Vasir, a Tok'ra spy. She sat atop the dais and stared lazily out the view port. While their methods and means were deplorable, she could easily get used to the clothing. The robe was flowing and well cut. Perhaps the gold trim was a bit gaudy, but somehow it worked.

Saryn, her host, had never been particularly impressed by such material extravagances. Clothes were clothes, and she was far more interested in their practicality than style. On her scale the attire of a Lord, even a minor one such that they now played, scored rather low.

Vasir smirked, ignoring the curious glance a nearby jaffa tried to hide. She supposed they couldn't be expected to agree on everything.

They would try to stall the ha'tak for as long as they could without drawing suspicion. Trying to lure Bastet into a true attack. The High Council had decided that it would be best to push the conflict if possible. If a real fight broke out between the two System Lords, it would curtail their expansions in other regions, at least for a while. Had she wanted to, Vasir could have finished her business with the mine already.

"Lord Gylara, sensors have detected an object passing the planet's horizon."

Vasir perked up, scanning the region as it came onto the screen. Just a smudge in the distance. "A ship?"

The jaffa at the pel'tak shook his head. "It appears to be an asteroid, my lord. There are no discernable energy readings."

If it was just an asteroid it was huge. She could just begin to make out the rough outline. It did indeed appear to have the craggy shape of a stray rock. But something that large couldn't have just passed through the system unnoticed. Sensors should have detected it long before then.

"Trajectory?" Vasir said. It approached rapidly.

There was a brief pause before he replied. "The object will make a near pass to the ha'tak. At this velocity it will not be captured by the planet's gravity."

_This isn't right._ Vasir nodded in agreement with Saryn. It simply didn't add up.

Vasir stood and approached the pel'tak, observing the readings. Her eyes widened, the asteroid was far larger than she would have assumed. It rivaled the ship she now commanded. And while it held many properties of a simple hunk of debris hurtled into space, there was a deliberateness to it. It was oblong, tapered end leading. It spun, but along a central axis. Centrifugal force. She felt her stomach clench.

"Raise the shields!" Even as Vasir spoke she could see debris release from the ship. There was no other explanation for what it could be. The debris began to move under its own power. Forming clusters of objects. Racing straight for them. "Deploy death gliders."

The smaller ships streaked ahead of the parent. They fired on the ha'tak, their attacks absorbed by the shield surrounding the ship. The mother ship's return fire easily destroyed those that it managed to hit. There were over a hundred signatures, and still more deploying.

Unfortunately for the pilots, the gliders had no defenses. Any hits melted cleanly through the hull, almost always fatally. Their retaliatory attacks were largely ineffective. Most simply disappeared before they ever reached the enemy ships.

The large ship was entering range. Vasir's lips twitched. "Concentrate all fire on the main ship."

She watched the salvo of energy lance out. The streaks curved sharply as if drawn into several invisible vortexes in front of the ship. They disappeared harmlessly. Vasir couldn't speak.

A responding volley echoed from the vessel. The entire ha'tak pitched, and Vasir staggered against the pel'tak.

"Shields are at sixty percent capacity!"

**After one volley?** Vasir's mouth was dry. She could barely speak.

"Divert all power to the shields and break orbit. Enter hyperspace as soon as we are clear."

"My Lord, the death gliders?"

As good as dead. And so were the rest of them if they remained. "Do not question me."

The ha'tak streaked away with the other ship in close pursuit. Further assaults rocked the ship. They were far enough away now, but nothing happened.

"Hyperspace, now!" Frantic, Vasir glared at the jaffa.

"We cannot, the sensors are still reading massive gravitational fluctuations."

As if they were somehow still in the gravity well of the planet. Could the ship somehow be causing it? Dread solidified in her stomach. They were doomed.

Vasir fled, rushing down the corridors. The ship shuddered, lights winking briefly before power was restored. She pushed through jaffa, ignoring their pleas for instructions. When the engines gave way, she careened to the floor, bouncing from wall to wall. Blood gushed into her eyes and her left arm hung uselessly, but she pulled herself up and continued on unphased.

She only stopped when she reached the nearest glider bay. A few stray ships still hung in the docks. Vasir pulled herself into a glider. Despite her desperation, she almost couldn't perform the launching sequence for all her shaking. But finally, she did.

As soon as she cleared the ha'tak Vasir shut down all systems. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice her, and if they did, assume she was simply debris from the wreckage. Falling towards the planet, she could only look up and watch the destruction. Death gliders winked from existence. Now entirely defenseless, the volleys tore into the ha'tak. Explosions ripped through the hull. Even as it shattered, Vasir watched the attacks continue to pour in.

Deep in shock, she could only wonder at what she had just witnessed.

_**Lost**_

Jacob stared blankly at the reports before him. The day-to-day runnings of the High Council did little to interest him. As since his return all he could think about was Sam. He knew she was lost to him, but he was far from ready to accept the fact. It left a bitter taste in the back of his mouth just to think about it.

Unfortunately, it was all he seemed to be able to think about.

Silently, Selmak slid forward into control. She tried to continue their duties, but was barely any more effective than Jacob had been.

**We need answers.** First and foremost, what had happened to Sam. The Yuuzhan Vong were up to something, preparing. But what? The debriefing of Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c had told them very little. They had reshaped the planet according to their own designs. And they didn't want this fact known. Was this the only world? How many more were there that they may never find?

Commotion in the hallway drew their attention. Selmak moved to investigate. One of the Tok'ra assigned to defend the stargate came through. Jacob didn't recognize his charge at first, robes torn and bloodied. Her dark hair was matted with blood. Blue eyes were faded almost gray, clouded with horror.

_Vasir?_ Jacob had never seen such an expression on her face before. She was usually so frivolous, almost carefree in nature.

"Selmak." Vasir's voice quivered. Her mouth moved as though she had more to say, but no words came out.

Selmak immediately took her from the other Tok'ra, all but carrying her to the chair they had only just occupied. She clutched her injured arm, pale face staring blankly ahead. Selmak kneeled in front of her and placed a hand on her leg to get her attention.

"What happened?" Selmak said.

She blinked several times. Saryn spoke. "Dead. They're all dead."

"You were attacked?" Saryn nodded slowly. "Bastet?"

"No. Yes. I don't... it was..." Vasir retook control, shaking her head. "It was just a rock."

"What?" Selmak clutched at her leg. "Tell me."

He had only recently had word sent out to the various Tok'ra spies to be on the lookout. Many, like Vasir, were out of contact and wouldn't have received the warning yet.

"It came out of nowhere. Cut through our defenses as if they were nothing. The ha'tak didn't even touch it. Our attacks were absorbed by some unseen force. Somehow... it prevented our escape." Vasir grew more agitated with every word she spoke, once again staring ahead blankly.

Selmak touched her cheek, guiding her focus back. "You did escape. How?"

"A glider. Drifted into the atmosphere. The ha'tak was utterly destroyed. I saw it fall apart. Still it just kept firing."

Selmak stood, eyeing the other Tok'ra who still stood in the room. "Tend to her. I must speak with the council."

_**Lost**_

Urgency filled the air. Her universe, so certain, so familiar, was thrown into chaos. The ground she stood on and trusted shook beneath her feet. Warriors shouted, charging through the corridors. She barely avoided being trampled underfoot by coiling her small frame against the wall.

As they disappeared around a corner, her attention turned to a nearby shamed one. He supplicated on the ground as he offered a frantic prayer. She could only watch as he pleaded for mercy.

She snapped awake, her heart pounding. Sitting up on the lichen covered matt that served as a bed, she eyed the walls around her. They did not shake. There were no cries of terror in the hallway that connected to the opened room. All she heard was the rhythmic thrum of life, something that was both at once foreign and oddly comforting. Somehow, she recognized it.

When she stood, the floor was warm beneath her bare feet. She looked down, studying the dull green frock that draped to mid-thigh. Pulling at the stomach, she felt it peel away from her skin with some resistance. When she let go it slowly latched on once more. The sensation was vaguely unsettling. Almost as unsettling as her pale skin. It was not what she remembered.

And she remembered very little.

She remembered being a child on a world ship. That small snippet that pulled her awake. Nothing more. But as she looked down it was very clear she wasn't a child, and looked nothing like the form she recalled in the dream.

"Deception is every bit as powerful as strength."

Her head snapped up to the two Yuuzhan Vong that passed. They didn't so much as look at her. The other one snorted. "Say that again when my amphistaff runs through your heart."

She listened as they continued down the corridor, their conversation fading. The language fell on her ears like an old friend. Though she had the sensation that she hadn't heard it in a very long time, she understood it completely.

She walked to the doorway and peered down the hall in both directions. Both directions snaked around a corner rather quickly. The walls glowed subtly from the moss that grew in clusters. She reached out and touched a patch. Sudden nostalgia made her want to cry. Why did this place, so very strange, feel like home?

"You are awake. Good."

She turned to the voice. Instantly recognized his form as that of a shaper. From lowly amphistaffs to the very ship they were now in, shapers were responsible for creating everything the Yuuzhan Vong employed.

"Where am I?" The words formed with surprising ease.

"You are within the world ship of domain Keth."

She nodded, his answer making a strange sense to her. "Who are you?"

"I am Kezan of domain Kwaad. My master and I have been charged with your care."

"Who am I?"

His lekku froze and he stared at her curiously. "You do not know?"

"I," she frowned. It was there, in a fog. She focused desperately trying to brush away the mental grime. Strangely, she was almost disappointed at what greeted her. "Calisa."

Kezan's lips curved. "Yes. Then your memory is returning."

"I think... I think I remember an attack. But nothing else." So many questions, she didn't even know where to start.

"Domain Cha," he said. Calisa nodded, she was of domain Cha. "The world ship was attacked, boarded. A great many warriors died to repel the assault, a credit to their lineage. Many could not be accounted for."

"What are you..."

"It has been a long and arduous process to free you of their corruption." She shook her head, unable to believe what he said. Kezan gestured. "Accompany me. My master will be better able to provide the answers you seek."

_**Lost**_

Viliz studied the organic hand device. Advance scouts had returned with many stories of Goa'uld cruelty. Many revolved around this so called "ribbon" device. Great power and terror, this she could respect. That its study and replication had been allowed, though a guarded secret, remained a mystery to her. There were strict protocols against such things, even simply handling a machine could taint one beyond salvation. But it was done, and perhaps this power could now be used to serve the Yuuzhan Vong.

The power of the device seemed to revolve around this element the infidels called naquadah. Without that, it still remained useless to them. These symbiotes had great regenerative abilities. Far easier, it was decided, to turn the humans they prefered as hosts. Unfortunately former hosts were exceedingly uncommon.

That they found one at all, and so easily, still came as a great surprise to her.

A pulsing warned her that someone requested access to her laboratory. Viliz set aside the creature and released the seal on the door. Kezan appeared at the entrance, bowing.

"Apologies for intruding, but Calisa has awoken."

She gave a slight nod, permitting him to enter. The woman trailed behind him meekly. There was no hint of recognition when her eyes locked on Viliz. It had been surprisingly difficult to perform the memory block, even with her will broken it repeatedly failed, and only after several weeks and countless attempts had they managed to make it hold. After that, implanting the false memories had been simple.

"I am certain you have many questions," Viliz said.

"Yes, I do." The woman now known as Calisa frowned at her. "I'm sorry but I don't know what to call you."

Viliz gave a placating smile. Yun-Harla, the trickster goddess, would have been pleased. "Master Shaper will be sufficient."

"Master Shaper. I'm still not sure what is going on. Kezan Kwaad said that I was captured. Kidnapped."

"Yes," Viliz said, "shamefully this is true."

"Then why don't I remember any of it?"

Viliz feigned contrition. "You have been in the hands of infidels for many years. They repressed the memories of your origins to insure your compliance. Breaking through their meddling did not come without its price."

The irony of her words was not lost on Viliz.

Calisa was silent for a long time. Viliz waited, watching her reactions carefully. "Why do I look like this?"

Kezan stepped forward. "They were not content to desecrate your mind alone."

"There is much to ponder, much to absorb. Rest. We shall speak again later."

Calisa nodded. Just before she crossed the threshold, she remembered herself. "Thank you, Master Shaper."

Viliz gave a small bow. No, the irony was not lost on her at all.

_**Lost**_

Jack would have welcomed forgetting. Everything about that stupid planet and the long weeks that followed. He remembered it. Every waking moment it was there just under conscious thought. Hell, it even pulled him awake at night, sweating into twisted sheets. That there were no other options didn't ease the guilt. The powerlessness only served to make him more angry. A true leader would have been able to do _something_. Instead he was only able to watch as they pulled Sam away never to be seen again.

Justifications didn't change the basic fact. They had left her behind.

He stalked the corridors of the SGC through another sleepless night. Any other time he might have laughed, there wasn't even any paperwork he could do to drag the time. Jack had already done it all. He was too hollow to be amused.

The Tok'ra had given them another update just that day. Yu, in all his magnificent glory, couldn't let a blatant attack on one of his assets go unanswered. Three ha'taks were sent with full contingents of al'kesh and gliders. Vasir's ship had been utterly destroyed, and only a handful of jaffa from the planet had escaped, so the Goa'uld still had little idea what had happened or what was waiting for them. The Vong had been driven back, but Yu's forces were decimated. The two motherships that survived wouldn't see service for quite some time.

At least they weren't invincible after all.

They pushed in on Yu's borders, the first attack apparently a feint to draw them away, taking a handful of planets. Seeing an opening, Bastet had made her move on the other side of things. No one could be sure if it had been deliberate. Did the Vong have any idea of the delicate balance they were now tipping? Jack recalled back to Mister and Misses Medusa, at the very least they seemed to know _what_ jaffa were. There was no way to tell just how far that knowledge went. Jack pushed it out of his mind, let them all go and kill each other.

He didn't pay attention to the turns he took. Occasionally he'd pass the stray airman, but they had all learned to give him a wide berth. Jack completely ignored the awkward greetings.

Only when he saw Daniel standing in the hallway did Jack come to a stop. The other man stared almost vacantly into the room in front of him. Jack frowned to himself when he realized they were in the labs. It didn't take any of the geniuses they stored there to know which one Daniel stood before. None of them were dealing with it particularly well.

He moved beside Daniel, peered into the clutter. "Whatcha doing?"

"Can't sleep."

Jack gave a small sound of agreement. "Don't think this is going to help."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Daniel finally looked at Jack. "Then why are you here?"

Jack rocked back on his heels and shrugged.

"Glutton for punishment, I guess."

"It wasn't your fault," Daniel said.

"Ah, ah." Jack raised a hand. He didn't want to hear it. "We've been over this."

Daniel shook his head, but remained silent. Jack could still hear him thinking it, though. Forgiveness was the last thing he wanted. He stared into the room so he wouldn't have to look at Daniel. It was actually neater than usual. For all her science, Sam sure could make a mess when she was deep into something. Never as good as Daniel, but then he was a true professional when it came to clutter.

Jack was almost offended that someone had cleaned up.

_**Lost**_

Teal'c tried to focus. Achieving kel'no'reem proved as elusive for him as sleep was for his teammates. It took far too long to lull his mind into the meditative state, and it never lasted long. He hadn't even had the opportunity to try to fight for Sam when she had been taken. But in the preceding fray, Teal'c knew that she had fought for him.

Was she now dead? No, the real question that strained him was more visceral. Had she suffered? Did she suffer now? While they had been largely spared, Teal'c felt that these creatures had potential for great cruelty. The ritualistic scarring unsettled him. That was how they chose to treat themselves. Why should an enemy expect any better?

While it could easily be argued that the jaffa did similar things, his own tattoo a testament to this, it paled in comparison.

A bitter thought he would never voice aloud, Teal'c thought perhaps it was best if she were dead.

_**Lost**_

Calisa. She played the name in her head. She recalled vague memories of people calling her that name. What had she answered to since then? How could what they were telling her possibly true? She was slowly remembering a childhood, a Yuuzhan Vong childhood within the bowels of a world ship. How could it possibly not be true?

A stray drop of blood ran into her eyes and Calisa blinked. The cuts on her forehead had almost stopped bleeding. Three vertical cuts about an inch apart, the mark of domain Cha. Somehow their presence made her feel less naked. She traced a line with her finger, wincing slightly.

Calisa couldn't remember what the fight was about, only that she had lost. The warrior that had pulled them apart had looked down at her.

"Pain teaches. Always learn from it."

That day's lesson had been vigilance. She didn't know what the lesson plan was now.

She glanced at the ooglith masquer pooled on the floor. A full body suit, the creature was worn as a disguise. In her case, it would give her the appearance of a Yuuzhan Vong, or so Kezan had told her. To help her fit in. Calisa hesitated. It had to be better than walking around like she was now.

Stepping into the puddled creature, she watched as it slowly seeped up her legs. She hissed at the needle like stabs as it seated into her pores. It covered her entirely. The pain ebbed as her body got used to its presence. And was surprised when she didn't feel hot or stuffy.

Calisa went to the water basin and stared down at her reflection. It was startling to look down at the sooty colored skin, the slightly tapered ears. Black hair fell down to her shoulders. Her eyes were still blue, and it could do little to her nose, but otherwise the change was staggering.

The wounds on her forehead even translated through to this second skin, without blood.

Once she had her frock back on, Calisa left the room. Walked aimlessly down the winding corridors. The need to explore, to understand, drove her on. She realized quite quickly that she had seen very little of a world ship as a young child. They did not roam freely, and she saw none now. Either way, it wouldn't have been the same. No two ships were exactly identical. Genetic variation prevented that.

She came to a section that opened up into a large room. So large that she could barely make out the opposite wall. Widely spaced there stood statues. She could make out forms gathered near each. Murmurs wafted through the room, but they were too far away to make out words.

Slowly, Calisa entered the room. The first statue came before her. She stopped, studying it. At first it was almost impossible to tell that the statue was actually of two beings wrapped together in embrace. The Lover Gods, she remembered suddenly. The male and female, Yun-Txiin and Yun-Q'aah, were never depicted alone.

A priest passed by, studying her. Nodded slightly to her. Calisa could only stare at him. Her. One half of his body was male, the other molded to feminine features. She didn't know which was his true gender. The priest supplicated before the statue, whispering under his breath.

Uncomfortable, she moved on.

Yun-Yuuzhan held prominence. Between all the other statues, his stood over twice as tall as the others. Mutilated, there was almost more of his body missing than present. Those pieces had gone into the creation of the universe. His sacrifice. An act to be emulated by his favored children.

She turned then to Yun-Yammka, and felt a terrible sensation in her gut. Unlike the other deities, his form did not appear Yuuzhan Vong in the slightest. A mass of flesh and tentacles. Looking at it made her ill, and she didn't know why. Calisa turned away. Passed straight by Yun-Harla and her handmaiden Yun-Ne'shel.

The Pardoner, Yun-Shuno, stood before her. Misshapen, covered in a thousand eyes. Protector of the shamed ones. She was the one god that their kind were allowed to commune with.

A shamed one approached, keeping his distance from Calisa. He kneeled on the other side of the statue. It was easy to tell those that were shamed. Physically marked, it was there for all to see. Implants or grafts that grew infected and never healed, or that were rejected altogether. Viewed as proof that the individual had lost favor with the gods through some failing or misdeed.

No one ever thought to blame it on an inexperienced or negligent shaper.

She looked at his right arm, severed at the elbow. A dark red creature, plated in armored scales, formed a new forearm and hand. It held much the same shape as a normal arm. His hung uselessly, the scales falling off and revealing necrotic tissue beneath.

The shamed one stared back at her. For a long time they just looked at each other.

"Stay too long and they may start to assume that you too are shamed."

Calisa started, turning to the voice beside her. The woman stared at Calisa, standing over six feet tall. The shamed one quickly turned and left. Calisa frowned, unsure what to make of the Yuuzhan Vong beside her. She was a knot of muscle, red and green spirals radiating out from both biceps. One of her ears had been cut nearly in half, the other was frayed on the top.

The woman spoke again. "But, I suppose, after an ordeal such as yours even the visage of Yun-Shuno would be a welcome one."

Calisa blinked. "You know who I am?"

"Should I not?"

"I don't know. Who are you?"

"Saunak Lah. I was bidden to acclimate you." Saunak shook her head as she looked at the statue. "She is for those who cannot do for themselves."

"I was just looking."

"It must have been insufferable to live along side them."

Calisa shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I don't remember."

"Truly?" Saunak pondered for a moment. "Perhaps it is for the best. To be torn away from your people. Profaning all that the gods teach us. I could not live with this knowledge."

"Profaning how?"

"Technology. Their complete irreverence of life. They give a machine the same standing as any organism. Yun-Yuuzhan created the universe. Yun-Ne'shel took the knowledge granted her and shaped the life within. The gods have given us all that we need. To shun it all for something unnatural..."

Calisa stared at Saunak, her agitation was very clear. The tenets came back to her, an integral thread in the Yuuzhan Vong faith. A fact that was known virtually at birth. There was no place for technology. Is that what she had been doing with her life, defying the gods?

Saunak turned. "Come, I've grown hungry."

Calisa followed.

_**Lost**_

Nom Anor could almost howl. The running joke of the System Lords, and none of them were even aware. Least of all Yu himself. It was perfect. Almost too perfect. Yun-Harla surely favored him on this day.

The aging Goa'uld was senile. Concealed in his ooglith masquer, Nom Anor was Yu's unassuming Lotar. Watched as his commands slowly bent to the absurd or were unintelligible entirely. He only nodded in response, performing the duties or ignoring them as necessary.

How did they not see it? By all accounts the other Goa'uld should have pounced long ago, dispatching of this elderly tyrant and taking what was his. Yet they were all none the wiser. The plan had been to learn what he could of the Goa'uld numbers and current standings. Then kill Yu and sow chaos as the other System Lords fought for control of his domain.

Nom Anor quickly realized that Yu was a far greater asset to them alive.

The System Lords would convene in a few days to discuss the Yuuzhan Vong threat and their response. It was not just Yu's domain anymore, his people slowly carved into all the fringe territories. At this summit he would learn how the ruse was maintained. And then make it serve his own purposes.

_**Lost**_

The mess hall was a cluster of noise. Calisa followed Saunak, filling her bowl with a ubiquitous paste dispensed from the wall. Muur. She sniffed it, smelled nothing. Saunak sat at an empty pad and Calisa joined her. Calisa took a tentative taste. Forced herself to swallow.

Saunak snorted. "Too abrasive for your delicate palate?"

"I guess it's an acquired taste."

"When traveling the void, concesions must be made."

"Void?"

"The space between galaxies. Our trial, and soon our patience will be rewarded."

She forced herself to eat, and once again followed Saunak. They came to another large room. Within were clusters of Yuuzhan Vong. Sparring. Training. Some hand-to-hand and others with weapons. Calisa stared.

"What's going on?"

"You are of the warrior caste," Saunak said. "We shall see if you have any skill."

Calisa frowned as she turnd to Saunak. "But I already said I don't..."

The fist came fast, but her arm was up to deflect it before she could think. She fell back a few steps and put her arms up defensively.

Saunak cocked her head. "What is this? No, you carry yourself too high."

She proved her point with quick set of punches meant to distract. While Calisa blocked Saunak swept her legs from underneath her. Calisa landed on the floor with a heavy grunt.

Saunak only watched as she pulled herself back up.

"You're small," Saunak said.

"Hey."

"Use it. Make yourself smaller. Strength will never be your advantage. Do not carry yourself as if it will be."

Unsure if she should feel offended, Calisa took her advice. Lowered her mass. Stayed on the move. It was easier to deflect oncoming attacks, or dodge them entirely. But Saunak was experienced, and she didn't pull her punches. More than once Calisa found herself back on the floor.

Endurance, that was her lesson for the day.

_**Lost**_

"These Yuuzhan Vong are a nuisance that must be dealt with." Ba'al remained in his seat, his fingers steepled. Attacks had recently cut into his territory. He was all the more vocal for it.

Nom Anor wasn't worried about them shoring their petty alliance. He watched the convened System Lords. Watched the one he now called master. Watched Yu's First Prime lean in before speaking.

"My Lord agrees with this assessment. He calls for all territorial disputes to be tabled until this threat is eliminated."

The Goa'uld threw insults at one another. It seemed to be a favored pass time. And when they finished deriding and ridiculing, they would agree to the cease fire. Nom Anor could tell posturing when he saw it. Once so comfortable in their power, they were beginning to grow concerned.

Bastet frowned. "I hardly see the need. It is but a few incursions on those not competent enough to maintain their ground."

"Five battle groups at last count," Ba'al said sharply. "We do not know from where they come or how many more will arrive. Unity now, my brothers and sisters, will show them that their judgment has been lacking. Lest they think they smell weakness."

Amaterasu stood, smiling. "Lord Ba'al is right. We may agree on very little, but there is one fact we should do well never to forget. This galaxy is ours and no on else's."

Nom Anor watched the vote, watched the nods of approval. While not yet throwing in their support for each other, they would stand their ground and free up resources in the threatened territories. Enough to hold what they had, and perhaps even gain some ground against the Yuuzhan Vong. Until the main forces could arrive, at least. Many ships had yet to break the veil.

Yu returned to his ha'tak, and they left. When the Goa'uld retired to his sarcophagus, Nom Anor slipped away. Found the First Prime within his chambers. The jaffa turned sharply as he entered the door.

"Forgive the intrusion, master jaffa." Nom Anor bowed steeply, in doing so hiding a quick smile. Yes, too easy.

"What is the meaning of this?" He was not impressed to be disturbed by a slave.

"Our master, His Lord Yu, bade me give you a message."

"What message?"

Nom Anor took a few steps closer. "He says that your services are no longer required."

There was a look of puzzlement, then understanding. The jaffa began to reach for his knife. Nom Anor merely flexed his brow, triggering the plaeryin bol that served as his left eye. Poison shot out from the pupil, splashing heavily on his face and upturned arms.

Nom Anor simply stepped aside as the jaffa staggered forward, swiping madly with his blade. Watched his twitching death throes as he fell to the ground. When it was safe, Nom Anor used the jaffa's very same blade to sever his head, placing it into a bag he carried.

These creatures had a tendency to revive their dead, something Nom Anor dispised. Not so much the technology they employed, but one who managed to fail in their duty deserved to remain dead.

He left into the empty corridor, and waited for the body to be found.


	3. Lost 2

Jacob stood in the briefing room. He stared at the stargate through the large window. Used it to steady himself. And to make his point.

"They aren't using stargates."

Hammond looked at him. Walked up beside his old friend. "They incapacitated the one on P4C-483. So they must understand their function."

"Whatever they do or don't know, all of their invasions have been made by ships. Spies that have been close enough to the fighting report that there is zero evidence that they used the stargates at all. It seems, as soon as they capture one, they bury it."

"That's a huge wasted opportunity."

Jacob nodded. With the use of the stargate system, they could strike anywhere. Ignoring it, their choice of targets was limited to whatever they could keep supplied. Not that supplies seemed to be an issue. Ships and troops continued to pour in. There were currently half a dozen worlds they had secured as supply routes for their fleet. He actually hoped the Goa'uld would get their act together soon, by all accounts they had just completed an emergency summit.

Selmak mentally shook her head. **Never had I thought I'd see the day I would hope for Goa'uld to be victorious over anyone.**

Jacob smiled wryly. _The enemy you know._

He finally turned back to Hammond. "Any word yet from the Asgard?"

"Not yet," Hammond said. "There's been no response to any of our messages."

**We will have need of them.** It was going to get far worse before it got better, this much Selmak didn't doubt.

"What about the free jaffa?" Jacob said.

"I've arranged for SG-1 to meet with them in a couple days. Give them all the information we've accumulated so far. Their numbers are small, so even if they were inclined I don't know how much help they would be."

"We need to cover our bases." Hammond nodded in agreement. "I would like to go with SG-1, I should have more to offer by then."

"Of course."

_**Lost**_

"Oshu is dead?" Yu stood from his throne. His loyal First Prime, dead?

The jaffa took a cautious step back. "Yes, my Lord. His body was found in his quarters. Decapitated."

"Where is the perpetrator?"

"We still endeavor to locate the culprit, my Lord."

A voice whispered into Yu's ear. "They mistake you for a fool, my Lord."

"I am no fool!"

The jaffa's eyes widened in horror, fearing that Yu spoke to him. "No, mighty Lord Yu, there is none wiser."

His Lotar spoke once more, ignoring the terrified jaffa. "Yes, my Lord, they are the fools. Amaterasu and Bastet, they believe themselves coy. But you are far too great to be swayed. You saw the looks that passed between them. This treaty is no more than a ploy. A pitiful attempt to deceive the great Lord Yu."

"They killed my First Prime." Yu's eyes were wild. He saw blood. The jaffa took another step backwards.

"Yes, my Lord. As soon as you withdraw your forces, they will strike. But you see through this, in your eternal wisdom."

"I will not be made a fool."

"Never," his Lotar agreed. "They think you are blind, but you see all. They are blind, and would not expect retaliation."

Yes, they would suffer for this transgression. Yu would not be played by children. He would crush both of them to dust. "Send the fleet to Kartesh."

"My Lord?" The jaffa swallowed. "But Yannoth is vulnerable and awaits reinforcements. The treaty, my Lord."

"Enough!" Yu bellowed. "I have spoken."

The jaffa fell to a knee, his face full of bewilderment. He couldn't understand, but neither could he disobey. "Forgive me, Lord Yu. The ships will be diverted at once."

Yu watched the jaffa scrabble out of the chamber. He then turned around. His Lotar stood, smiling, with a goblet in hand. As though the entire exchange had never taken place.

"Refreshment, my Lord?"

Yu took the drink with a scowl.

_**Lost**_

"You learn fast." Saunak cracked a smile. Surprisingly, she seemed to do that a lot.

Calisa sidestepped, easily avoiding the sudden jab. "Kind of have to, don't I?"

"Time is not something we are currently afforded. We will break the veil soon, and the Warmaster will have need of everyone."

Calisa nodded. There was little to say about it, the war had already begun. This was her duty to her people. It felt less and less strange to call them that. A growing sense of purpose blossomed around her. Everyone was preparing for the days to come, and with it she gained a sense of place.

Kezan entered, standing to the side as he waited for them to finish. Calisa eyed him curiously. What did he want now?

"My master has a gift for you," he said. She saw something in his hands.

Bowing ever so slightly, he handed the bundle over to her. Calisa opened it. Inside the pouch was a glove. Dark brown, with thick black veins that ran along the entire length. Seated in the palm was an orange stone.

"What is it?"

"A special weapon to aide you. During your time with the infidels, you gained certain... alterations to your biology. Allowing you use of this weapon. it will function for no one but you."

She studied it further, unsure. "I don't know how to use it, or what it does."

"Please," Kezan implored her, "try it."

Calisa put it on her right hand, the material going all the way to her elbow. She frowned, nothing happened.

Saunak's head cocked. "Perhaps it needs motivation?"

"What?" Calisa said, distracted.

Saunak hefted her training baton, rearing to strike at Calisa's midsection. Without thought, she started to step back to avoid the blow. Her hand raised and a wave of energy shot out. Saunak flew several feet, colliding with another warrior. They both tumbled to the ground as others dodged out of the way.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

The room went dead silent. Calisa stood frozen. Saunak had pushed herself up on her hands, staring at Calisa wide-eyed from the floor. Even Kezan had an air of surprise surrounding him.

"Woah."

"How did you do that?" Saunak said.

"I don't know." Calisa's voice wavered slightly, stunned by her own actions. "I just did. Are you ok?"

"I am impressed."

She turned back to Kezan. "What is this thing?"

"The infidels call it a 'ribbon device.' I do not think it adequate."

Turning her hand, she looked at the stone. It was the same dull color as before.

"No," she agreed, "it's not."

Saunak finally stood, movin beside Calisa. "Surely this is a gift from no less than Yun-Yuuzhan himself. It is the will of the Creator."

"Yuuzhan'ntoth?" Kezan echoed the word, then nodded. "Yes, I agree. He offers you a great gift, Calisa. I would remember that on this day."

Calisa let his words sink in. If that were so, she'd have to make sure she was worthy of it. Slowly the other warriors returned to their training. Kezan left.

"You must learn to master it," Saunak said.

Calisa's brow furrowed. "I don't even know what I did. I just reacted."

Saunak circled her, deep in thought. "Then it must be slaved to your will. Come, do it again."

Saunak stepped back, slapping her chest. Those behind her quickly cleared a path. Calisa just looked at her.

"But I don't want to hurt you."

Saunak scoffed. "I am not glass."

Calisa frowned. She raised her hand, felt a tingling across her palm. She could see the faint glow of the crystal. Her will wasn't in it.

"Come on," Saunak said, "shoot."

Calisa bit her lip. "I can't."

"Do it!"

The outburst startled Calisa. She didn't like being yelled at. Agitated, she felt the tingling grow more pronounced. And watched Saunak hurtle back once more. Calisa rushed to her.

"Are you ok?"

Saunak was once again propped up on her hands. She was laughing.

Calisa frowned.

_**Lost**_

Ahead of the others, Teal'c gave his mentor a quick embrace.

"It is good to see you again, old friend," Bra'tak said.

"And you as well."

Bra'tak studied Teal'c, quickly seeing what most never could. Only he could instantly spot the fatigue, the distance in Teal'c's posture. Teal'c didn't have any illusions of his emotions being guarded from this man. Jack and Daniel were the only others that could possibly see his turmoil, more so as they were both also living through it. Bra'tak's brow raised in question, but he said nothing. The others now stood beside the pair.

"Major Carter is not with you?" Bra'tak said after a moment.

The silence was poignant. Teal'c watched the others shift awkwardly. He would ease their burden, use the words that everyone was so reluctant to utter.

"Major Carter is dead." Teal'c's jaw twitched only slightly.

Jack looked at him almost as if he had made a betrayal. Daniel just seemed shocked to hear the words aloud. Jacob stared at something in the distance.

Though harsh, it was a reality that they all had to come to accept.

Bra'tak's expression hardened. He did not respond right away.

"I am sorry. Major Carter was an able warrior. A credit to the Taur'i."

Teal'c bowed his head.

"Yeah," Jack said, his words sounding every bit as bitter as they must have tasted. "She was."

"But this is not why you have come."

"Not exactly," Daniel said.

Jacob stepped forward. "You must have heard about the recent attacks against the Goa'uld?"

"We have heard rumors, though much has been difficult to corroborate. There is a tale that one of Yu's lieutenants was slain in a surprise assault."

"She was a Tok'ra spy." Jacob stiffened. "She barely escaped."

"I see," Bra'tak said. The disapproval in his voice was plain. Teal'c could understand it. Vasir may have escaped, but hundreds of jaffa did not. She couldn't have prevented it from happening, but she could have died with them. Teal'c also knew that they would have even less information than they now possessed if that had come to pass.

Jacob looked like he was about to speak, to defend her actions. He decided against it. "We've come to share what we know about these invaders."

Bra'tak bowed his head slightly. An acknowledgement that the issue had been tabled. "This is much appreciated."

They told Bra'tak about P4C-483. Described the aliens, and what they currently knew about their biotechnology. Their ships. Their profile. The strategies they had used so far.

"But what is their goal?"

Bra'tak's question hung in the air. They had no definitive answer. An aim to conquer, surely. However, Teal'c knew as little as the rest what these Yuuzhan Vong would consider victory.

_**Lost**_

Without reinforcements, Yannoth fell to the Yuuzhan Vong forces. Swiftly. The contingent of jaffa served their master well. None dared to retreat through the stargate. Most chose the honor of death over the shame of capture. Those who didn't would wish they had.

Herded in the center of the Yuuzhan Vong forces, jaffa and slaves alike stood. Dirty and battered, clothes and armor torn and streaked with blood. A pile of staff weapons and zats sat nearby, smouldering.

There was only the sound of the crackling fire, and the tears of those not shocked into total stillness. Not even the ship that descended through the air made any noise. It was only slightly larger than a tel'tak, ovoid in shape. Red with streaks of purple. The ship landed just outside of the ring of warriors.

A hatch in the side peeled open. The ramp descended like a thick tongue unrolling. Everyone watched, Yuuzhan Vong and prisoner, as the high priest stepped out. Draped across one shoulder, his robes were impossibly white. The wrap that adorned his head fell down the length of his back.

A priest of Yun-Yuuzhan was intimately acquainted with suffering. The high priests more than any other. They emulated the sacrifices of their creator, and Tulosh was no exception.

His right hand only had two fingers, pointer and thumb. His other arm had been amputated entirely. Tattoos covered his arm, representing the ebb and flow of life. Carved through the pattern was Tulosh's divine prayer. It differed for each priest, their words recorded from their death bed in the ceremony of bloodletting. They were believed to be the divine utterances of Yun-Yuuzhan himself. Many did not survive the initiation.

Both of Tulosh's ears had been severed. The skin on his forehead had been flayed, revealing the tattooed skull beneath. On the bare half of his chest was carved the beating heart of Yun-Yuuzhan. The most cherished of all his mutilations, he recut the pattern every morning during his supplication. Dried blood stained his chest even then.

The warriors parted as he approached. Gasps of horror staggered through the crowd. Those at the front shrunk back, unable to move far. Expressions filled with fear.

Tulosh observed through his one eye. Misguided creatures. They should rejoice, not cower.

"Your masters lie to you." He let his gaze wander across the crowd. Growing silent, they strained to listen. "They call themselves gods. They divert you from the true path. They corrupt you."

Shocked murmurs started again.

"We offer you the truth. The Yun'o, the Great Ones, the _true_ gods. Embrace them and they shall embrace you. Forsake them and suffer their terrible wrath."

"Lord Yu will strike you down! He will not tolerate this blasphemy!" A mystery voice shouted from the group.

Tulosh walked to the crowd, stopping in front of a jaffa. The jaffa tried not to tremble and failed miserably. With one fluid motion he tore the larval Goa'uld out of the jaffa's pouch and held it aloft. The symbiote writhed and squealed. It flexed and bit at Tulosh's wrist, but he gave no reaction. Blood trickled down his arm.

They all looked upon him in shock. Warriors held back the jaffa as he lunged forward, crying for his prim'ta to be returned. Tulosh ignored him.

"Your so-called gods are of no consequence." He threw the symbiote to the ground, crushing it under his foot. The writhing stopped.

Horrified, the remaining moments of his life ticking away, the jaffa staggered back.

"The Yun'o welcome all who supplicate and submit to their will."

For a moment there was stillness. A few slowly began to bow down on hands and knees. Then more and more. At the end more than half cowered on the ground. Most of the surviving jaffa still stood.

Tulosh could respect their loyalty, even if it was sorely misplaced. They would make worthy sacrifices. As for the rest, the worlds that had been remade were always in need of attendants to care for the provisions that grew there.

_**Lost**_

With his misguided act of treachery, Yu was beset on all sides. Both Amaterasu and Bastet retaliated quickly and soundly to the attacks on their worlds.

It was in an increasingly rare moment of clarity he sent a portion of his fleet to retake Yannoth. But the ha'taks met no resistance when they arrived. The Yuuzhan Vong forces had withdrawn. It gave the jaffa pause, unsure what the empty skies really meant. Only when they sent landing parties down to the surface did it become clear.

Jaffa stared at the carnage before them. Heavy stakes, over fifteen feet long, were driven in a wide circle around the stargate. Impaled through each one was a naked corpse. The bodies, as well as the stargate itself, were scrawled with Yuuzhan Vong symbols. Painted with the green blood of their own prim'tas.

The symbiote corspes, ripped in half, had been painstakingly placed upon an altar. Their blood gathered in an obsidian bowl beneath.

"Please."

It was barely a hiss of air, but in the stunned silence they all turned. Nearby, the impaled jaffa's hand twitched.

"Kill me."

While most were already dead, a few still clung to life. Days later.

Reacting to the nearby motion, the recording villip beside the altar activated. It did not transform, merely bred to produce sound. Tulosh's words played in a repeating loop.

"We offer you the truth. The Yun'o, the Great Ones, the _true_ gods. Embrace them and they shall embrace you. Forsake them and suffer their terrible wrath. The Yun'o welcome all who supplicate and submit to their will."

The jaffa looked to one another, uncertain.

_**Lost**_

The days had passed in a blur. Calisa almost couldn't remember them. There had been training, yes. Always training. Now she sat within a transport, wedged between dozens of other warriors.

She looked down at her right hand. The Yuuzhan'ntoth was largely covered by the gauntlets of her armor. Still living, the plated shell of the vonduun crab afforded excellent protection. It was one of the few substances able to turn the sharp edge of the amphistaff, which even now was coiled around her bicep. And remained surprisingly lightweight and flexible at the same time.

The amphistaff was easily more difficult to master than the Yuuzhan'ntoth had proven to be. Calisa counted herself more proficient with the latter, which she could now use with almost no thought. But the amphistaff was a weapon of finesse. It could be stretched out to its length as a spear or staff, or be made pliable and whip-like all with a twitch of the arm. In either state its cellular structure made it virtually indestructible.

Saunak sat on the bench across from her, shrouded in her own armor of darkest obsidian. Calisa saw a gleam in Saunak's eye. She had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Calisa could feel a flutter in her own chest. Once in a blur, now that they were speeding down to the planet every moment passed unbearably slow.

Calisa was nervous. But in Saunak she saw only tempered excitement. The other warrior nodded at her, and Calisa returned the gesture. The entire ship thrummed with energy, all aboard waiting for the moment of action.

The subaltern stalked the narrow aisles between the throngs of warriors. Her dark mask rippled with almost ironic laziness. It hid her eyes and all expression, but Calisa knew underneath her face would be hard. Barash Keth was always hard.

"Kaza!" she shouted, commanding their attention. "We arrive. Feed the Slayer well. Woe to our enemies."

The warcry was repeated fervently, echoing off the walls. "Do-ro'ik vong pratte!"

The ship landed with a dull thud. Warriors disgorged in a sweeping flood. Calisa followed into the inky night. Sounds of battle raged nearby. The hissing reports of staff weapons filled the air, as well as the shouts of those that fought. A death glider streaked overhead, desperately trying to shake the two coralskippers that gave chase. Their molten projectiles seared through the sky.

There was familiarity to it. The jaffa, the gliders, the sound of battle. This was something she had done before. But that was as far as she could place the sensation. Her nerves began to be replaced by purpose.

Calisa's detachment swept around the main lines to put pressure on the flank. The jaffa were slowly falling back, unable to keep up with the deluge of forces that worked to surround them.

She saw them through the edge of the treeline, holed up behind their modestly fortified positions. The gutted remains of a tel'tak served as their walls. Loose rock, as well as the armor of the fallen-both Yuuzhan Vong and jaffa alike-filled the gaps between the warped sheets of metal.

Calisa ducked down as a volley of staff blasts shot out in their direction. She turned to Saunak who crouched beside her. There was the faintest smile on her face.

The staff blasts were answered with a barrage of thud bugs. Fitting in the palm, the creatures were extremely hardy and could withstand most impacts. Crashing through rocks, cracking armor and denting plating, the creatures would pry themselves out again and fly back to the warriors that threw them.

Before the second wave could even return, the charge was called. The air around Calisa filled with warcries. She rushed with the group. Pinned, the jaffa still managed a few shots. The blasts knocked a few warriors down, tripping up those directly behind, but their armor kept them largely unscathed.

It was hard to keep track of anything in the bedlam. In the melee the jaffa grew increasingly desperate. Neatly sidestepping the heavy butt of a staff weapon, her coufee knife easily pierced through the jaffa's side. Saunak fought beside her, driving back her opponent with a flurry of attacks. The young jaffa couldn't keep up with the speed of her amphistaff and managed to trip himself up trying to back away. She didn't hesitate, driving her weapon straight through his heart. His armor did little to deter the blow.

Desperate, the jaffa attempted a charge of their own. They grouped up and pressed into the advancing Yuuzhan Vong. Calisa stood almost in the middle of the pack, saw the jaffa coming forward. The only other option was to be trampled, so she raised the Yuuzhan'ntoth and released a massive wave.

Bodies flew through the air. Yuuzhan Vong and jaffa crashed heavily to the ground. Much of their precious barrier was dismantled by the shockwave and those caught up by it. The warriors not hit rushed forward and attacked the jaffa. The jaffa that were able pushed to their feet and ran. Calisa heard one shout "Goa'uld."

They gave chase.

_**Lost**_

Ba'al paced his chambers. A fresh assault on his domain, on a world removed from the current fighting. He had retaken one planet only to find himself losing another. The toll of that victory had been high. If he was able to commit all of his forces, perhaps he could retake what was his. But in the face of Yu's betrayal, he could take no chances.

Yu was calculating. That he could maintain his position and power for so long, the oldest of all reigning System Lords, gave him Ba'al's begrudging respect. This attack on both Amaterasu and Bastet was not calculating. It was foolish. Yu was not a fool. So why had he done it? This is the question he pondered long and hard.

Slowly he saw it. In hindsight, it should have been obvious. Ba'al had merely set it to the old creature's ever rising ego. In recent times his First Prime had taken to speaking for his master as Yu whispered in his ear. No, Ba'al realized now that there had been far more to it. The jaffa had been holding together his master's empire while the Goa'uld slowly withered away.

Ba'al had often wondered when a Goa'uld would be "too old".

His spies had reported the death of Yu's First Prime. Someone else had already reached the same conclusion as he did. And that someone else was the enemy, no other Goa'uld would have performed this treachery at so important a time. Having Yu's forces run amok only served to weaken the position of all the System Lords. They would have waited for this crisis to end, then they would strike.

This left an even darker realization. The Yuuzhan Vong had spies among them. They were in a position to have Yu's very ear, without Yu even realizing it. Fading though he might be, Ba'al knew he was not that far gone. A human or jaffa in league? It did not sit well with him. There were only two he could imagine that would be in the position to realize their master's deterioration and make use of it. One was now dead. The other had disappeared.

Yu offered the Yuuzhan Vong no further use. It was only time now before he was crushed entirely. And still the Asgard had made no move. While they were certainly not friends of the Goa'uld, Ba'al knew that these invaders would upset their delicate sensibilities as much, if not more so than the System Lords did. He had long begun to doubt the Asgard's position, that they exchanged far more on empty threats than actual power. But he would never put himself in the position of testing that theory personally.

He needed to force their hand.

_**Lost**_

The fighting lasted for days. Calisa had quickly lost track of the bodies that lay in their wake. Her wake. Whenever the jaffa went to take up a defensive position, it was never very long before she tore it down. All with a simple wave of her hand. It didn't seem right to have so much power literally in the palm of her hand.

It was barbaric.

Unbidden, the thought gave her pause. It was a tool, used in the service of her people. There was no reason to think it as anything else, or anything less. If the jaffa fled in terror at its use, that didn't change anything. She was a warrior, and she would fight. That's all there was to it.

Calisa kneeled on the floor, her hands clasped against her knees and eyes shut. Clothed only in a simple tunic, the masquer lay beside her. She clenched her jaw as the priest worked, dipping the chisel in the ink and using a small mallet to drive in the color. She had long since gone numb, no longer flinching or reacting. The design spiraled out and covered her shoulder. Commemoration of her first battle, her first victory. It was an important rite in the life of a warrior. Yuuzhan Vong wore their accomplishments for all to see. Now, she would have something to show.

"Ntoth," Saunak said. She sounded amused.

Kardis seemed to have coined the nickname, and it had spread. There was a mix of awe and respect among the warriors. Calisa was more embarrassed than anything, and wasn't sure how to respond to the nods and greetings. Ntoth. The will.

"Not you, too."

"It suits you."

Calisa opened her eyes. "I'm not special."

"But aren't you? You return to us now, on the eve of battle? The gods do everything for a reason." Saunak spoke with absolute certainty. There was no room in her world for doubts.

"I just do what I am called to."

"And this you do well, Calisa."

Saunak kneeled in front of her in almost the same position. For a time they just sat in silence, save the clicking of the mallet.

"How do you stand it?" Saunak said.

"Stand what?" She knew that the woman wasn't talking about the tattoo.

"To look as you do. It must be... disturbing." Tact was not something Saunak even strived to achieve. Calisa had begun to apreciate that about her.

She shrugged, receiving an admonishing tut from the priest. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."

There hadn't really been time, and she liked it that way. Calisa didn't want to dwell on alienation. Not when everything was starting to make sense, to be right.

This was, after all, all that she knew.


	4. Lost 3

**AN: Sorry this one took so long to post. It went really slow for a while, and I had hoped to post it before I went on vacation but it didn't happen. Anyway, yes, I'm still around. Hope you enjoy.**

"Yu was the one who went back on the treaty." Amaterasu stared at Ba'al harshly through the view screen. Sitting on her throne lightyears away.

He gave the barest of nods. And lied squarely. It was always best to play your hand close. "Yu was played. I do not yet know how. Be that as it may, whether you continue your retaliation or not, he is no more. Yu's forces are so compromised that he cannot possibly repel these invaders. All I suggest is that you let the old fool die with at least some dignity."

"Why should you intercede on his behalf?" Her brow raised curiously.

"I couldn't care less about his fate. This is on my behalf, and yours as well. The more forces these beasts have to commit to his territory, the less they have for the rest of us. Surely you can see this was their plan all along."

Amaterasu paused, shaking her head. "This was my suspicion from the start. Yu has never been known to be reckless. What is it then, Lord Ba'al, that you propose?"

He rankled at the insincerity in her tone. Ba'al could deal with the jab at his pride, for now. "Merely that you cease all actions against Yu. Keep what you have taken, of course. But press no further. Let Yu commit what little he has left to stalling the Yuuzhan Vong."

"I shall speak to Bastet. You will know our answer soon."

_**Lost**_

Czulkang Lah clicked along the floor in his augmented armor. The vonduun muscles enhanced his own, allowing him to stand and walk. Age took its toll, and its price was always high. To be stored away in the bowels of a world ship, little more than a relic, was not how he would have chosen to spend his waning years.

He would still be warmaster if not for his own son, Tsavong Lah.

Czulkang did not begrudge his ambition. Such was the way of things. He supposed, standing here now guiding the young warriors before him was some sort of mercy. Mercy was a notion that he had little time for. But he had even less for disobedience. There was little left for him to offer in the service of his people but his accumulated knowledge and wisdom.

The gathered warriors all looked upon him with reverence. Czulkang's legacy was well proven, and well known. The flesh that showed around his rust colored armor was almost black for the mass of scars and tattoos he had collected. A tribute to his life.

He observed his students, all of whom carefully studied the model before them. Representations of Yuuzhan Vong positions and numbers as well as the defending Goa'uld forces. Vastly outnumbered, the jaffa had retreated when the hill was pressed.

"Why?" His question hung thickly in the air.

"Because they are cowards."

Decrepit as he was, the amphistaff whipped out with surprising speed. The warrior, of domain Keth, jerked at the contact and gritted his teeth. Blood ran down from the gouge in his chest. The answer had been hasty, and without thought. Assumptions were dangerous.

"It's a trap."

She had spoken to herself, almost a whisper, but in the stillness the sound carried. Czulkang's head snapped up. He eyed the female, significantly smaller than those that surrounded her. Already she was becoming something of a legend herself. He took note of the tattoo on her right shoulder. Barely proven, yet with a weathered calculation in her eye. It was his business to be aware of everything around him. Ignorance led to assumptions.

Calisa looked surprised at the attention she received. "Apologies, Honored One. I..."

Czulkang lifted his hand, silencing her. Considered punishing her for indecisiveness. Another trait he had little time for. Instead, he motioned for her to stand. "Explain."

She complied quickly, a frown forming on her features. "The hill is the best defensive position in the area. There's nowhere for them to go that wouldn't leave them wide open."

"They would rather run than die with honor," the warrior said.

Calisa shook her head immediately. For now, Czulkang overlooked her lack of deference as she addressed the warrior and not himself. Intelligence was more important to him than strict protocol. "They would rather live. While the warriors have started to push, the jaffa haven't seen particularly heavy losses yet. The only reason to abandon the hill would be to draw us into a position of their choosing."

Had the subaltern in command of the contingent shown similar judgment, this lesson would not have been so vital. Only Calisa could see it, could give the jaffa soldiers any credit of strategy or cunning.

"A trap. One that eager, ignorant warriors charged into headlong. There is no honor in an ignorant death." Czulkang observed the bowed heads of those appropriately admonished. Knew that many would still not learn the true lesson. "A certain, swift victory was stalled. The entire contingent lured into a forcefield. Contained and then neutralized. This allowed the jaffa to hold out until reinforcements arrived. The further cost to secure this world has forestalled any further operations within that sector. Never assume your enemy any less intent on victory than you."

With a curt nod, he dismissed them.

_**Lost**_

"Cha."

Calisa's heart skipped a beat. She stopped at the doorway and turned. Mentally she cursed herself, she never meant to blurt out those words. And her continued behavior could have been seen as disrespectful. Perhaps she hadn't dodged the bullet she thought she had.

"Please forgive me, Honored One, I meant no..."

"Attend me," Czulkang said, interrupting her.

Nodding, she fell into step slightly behind the old warmaster. Despite everything, he didn't exude weakness. Calisa knew he could break her in half before she could flinch, and would not hesitate to do so at the wrong provocation. But one didn't get to his station, or his age, by being rash.

She didn't dare to break the silence and simply followed his slightly hobbled gait.

"You have seen more of battle than your merits would suggest."

Calisa wasn't sure how to take his words, the tone neutral. Was it a condemnation?

He continued before she could think of an appropriate reply. "You need not defend yourself. I know well your origins."

"I serve the Warmaster." Despite the flutter in her chest, she kept her voice steady.

Czulkang stopped, forcing Calisa to cut herself short. He turned slowly and looked into her eyes. She had to force herself not to look away. "Should I doubt your loyalty?"

"No, Honored One."

"Then speak no more of it. You have knowledge of these infidels. Of these jaffa."

Calisa shook her head as they continued walking. "I don't remember it."

"The intuition still remains," he said, quickly dismissing her words. "A basic respect that sorely lacks, even among the 'wiser' of our people."

"They are infidels." She didn't know what else to say.

"And they will fight no less fiercely for it. This you understand. Perhaps your epithet is not so premature as it may seem, Ntoth."

Calisa's eyes widened. "You know about that?"

She saw the barest of smiles form on his profile.

"I value knowledge as well as strength. One is useless without the other. Consider this lesson well, Calisa of domain Cha."

Freezing where she stood, completely stunned that he would either know her name much less bother to use it, Calisa was barely able to acknowledge the dismissal. "Yes, Honored One."

She watched him walk stiffly and disappear around a bend. Czulkang Lah was one to be respected. Calisa would have known that simply by looking at him, even without the stories she had heard. He exuded confidence and purpose. Honed his craft to a fine edge, one could easily see the calculation in his eyes. If one dared to look into them.

His endorsement was nothing to scoff at.

Calisa eventually regained her senses and went to the mess. Saunak immediately caught her gaze, eying her curiously. She took her food and sat down.

"I didn't expect you to return in one piece," Saunak said.

"Me neither." Her heartrate still hadn't leveled.

Saunak's brow raised. "You're fortunate, he would have been well within his rights to punish you."

"I know," Calisa said. "I know."

She certainly hadn't tried to get herself into trouble.

"Then what did he want?"

"I think, I think he was sizing me up."

Saunak considered this. "To have Czulkang Lah's attention... this is either very good or very bad."

"For now, I think it's good." Calisa burned with curiosity. The question had been plaguing her. "You and Czulkang, are you related?"

"We are both of domain Lah. No more."

"And the current warmaster? He is domain Lah, too."

Saunak nodded. "Tsavong Lah, son of Czulkang."

"Does that happen often? Consecutive warmasters from the same domain?"

"It is uncommon. To pass along bloodlines rarer still. Neither are to be underestimated."

"No," Calisa agreed. Certainly if Czulkang was anything to go by, his son must also have a formidable mind.

Saunak cocked her head. "Why do you ask all these questions?"

"Because," Calisa said, frowning to herself, "I also value knowledge."

Saunak only looked at her, but Calisa didn't bother to explain herself.

_**Lost**_

Nom Anor was intrigued when his spies contacted him. A servant of Ba'al reached out, attempting to communicate with the Yuuzhan Vong. What, he wondered, could the Goa'uld have to say? Pride was not lacking in him, and Nom Anor could tell it was not entirely misplaced. No, this one would not capitulate so easily.

Which meant Ba'al must have something he thought of value.

The villip had been passed to Ba'al's representative with instructions on its use. Nom Anor had considered poison, in case his time was wasted, but he had refrained. His concession to the Goa'uld's boldness, the one and only favor he would grant. Nom Anor was not without a sense of fairness.

It was several days before the villip pulsed. When Nom Anor activated the creature, he stared at the female face of Ba'al's Lotar. He scowled.

"You are not Ba'al."

"My master is here. I speak his words as they are spoken to me."

"Prudent," Nom Anor said. "But my patience is thin. Do not strain it."

Her head nodded slightly to words Nom Anor couldn't hear. The villip only transmitted the sound from the one attuned to it.

"I propose a trade."

Too bold, perhaps. No doubt bartering for his own safety. But Ba'al was also not foolish enough to offer up another System Lord to the slaughter. There was nothing else he could offer of value. "I lose interest."

"Coordinates of worlds ripe for conquest. The inhabitants are primitive, and will offer no meaningful resistance."

"Why then are they unclaimed?" Nom Anor was immediately skeptical. There was an ulterior motive, but he had yet to devise it.

"Their value is negligible. And they lie too distant from any territory to be easily protected."

"Surely your stargates negate this disadvantage."

The woman frowned. "Stargates can be blockaded, and then they would be defenseless. You may go to these worlds and observe for yourself. I'm sure you will find them... suitable."

"And the price of these coordinates?"

"Withdraw from my territory."

Nom Anor's response was immediate. "No."

"One cannot be blamed for trying. Then, a cease fire. For a time."

"We will consider your proposal." Nom Anor deactivated his villip.

What was his game?

_**Lost**_

The al'kesh streaked overhead, dropping its lethal charges. Calisa dove to the ground and felt the shockwave tear over her. She was assaulted by an instant of searing heat. Warriors streaked through the air.

Calisa stood, covered with dirt. Jaffa were streaking down the hill, charging the fractured line. Too many to fight. Not there in the open, and not with the al'kesh readying for another pass. She looked for the subaltern and saw no signs of her. Then she looked for Saunak.

"Fall back!"

Few heeded her call. Calisa didn't intend to die there, not if there was a better option. She ignored those who stayed, running to the thick forest. Use the jaffa's tactics against them.

She saw Saunak on the ground ahead. The chest plate of her armor was shattered where shrapnel had struk, the thick shell radiating cracks like a pane of glass. Blood, both of the armor and Saunak herself leaked around the pieces. Calisa kneeled down, rolling Saunak from her side to her back.

"You better not be dead."

"I told you I am not glass." There was ample pain in her voice.

Calisa shook her head, not particularly amused. "At the moment the resemblance is uncanny."

She pulled Saunak up, difficult considering the difference in size. Saunak expressed her pain in a roar of anger.

"Help me," Calisa said to a nearby warrior. He hesitated a moment before grabbing Saunak's other arm.

"We shouldn't run."

"Our only chance lies under cover. Out here, if the jaffa don't pick us off, that al'kesh will."

As they crossed the treeline the al'kesh screamed overhead. Trees exploded, as well as the two warriors that had been directly below its path. Shrapnel flew out and embedded into trees with lethal force. Those trees not incinerated bent back violently, threatening to snap from their very roots. The blossoming wave of heat was staggering.

Calisa barely noticed the sting of the large splinter that grazed her cheek. Her masquer oozed a milky gray blood, it's cilia absorbing most of her own before it could fall.

Shouts from the jaffa echoed out, still not yet in the woods. She could hear the al'kesh as it banked once more. The thick canopy would provide concealment, but it wouldn't stop the bombing. It needed to be dealt with. Unfortunately they had nothing that could even think to touch it.

"What is your plan?" Saunak's voice was tight.

Calisa glanced over her shoulder, saw a few flashes of silver gaining. "Still working on it." The next was for all the survivors. "Keep spread out!"

Raising her right hand in her wake, Calisa fired the Yuuzhan'ntoth. Twigs, branches, and the thick layer of leaves blew back in the wave. Jaffa raised their arms to fend off the cloud. It didn't stop them, but bought her a few more seconds. Now it was all about buying time.

The next shock of heat was almost close enough to push her back to the ground. She clenched her jaw.

Staff blasts sizzled through the air. Many stopped by trees as they weaved and juked. The al'kesh backed off. They couldn't afford to sacrifice their own forces in bombings just to take out a couple dozen stragglers. In her mind, though, they called off the air assault too soon. Calisa was hardly going to complain about it.

Not that the jaffa behind her were any less deadly. The vonduun armor could only turn so much. She frowned at the passing forest.

"We need to find better cover."

The sun was beginning its descent in the sky.

_**Lost**_

Daniel stood before the Curia. Jack sat at the table behind him, drumming his fingers idly. Teal'c observed silently. Honestly, they had known the answer before coming. But to hear them say it out loud...

"We have made our position on such matters abundantly clear," High Chancellor Travell said.

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're talking about a conflict that is slowly engulfing the known galaxy. It isn't just going to end with the Goa'uld."

"You do not know that for certain."

"They're religious zealots. You think they're going to be happy spreading their message to just some of us?"

Daniel recalled the reports from the Tok'ra. The ritual slaughter of Yu's jaffa on Yannoth, and their larval Goa'uld. It was a clear message. Convert or die.

Fanatics were never satisfied with just some, they needed all.

Another member of the council spoke, a man whose name Daniel hadn't bothered to remember. "We aren't soldiers. What would you have us do?"

Jack leaned back in his chair, speaking before Daniel could respond. "Oh, I don't know. Something. Anything. Get off your collective asses and contribute."

"Jack," Daniel said. He knew the other man had lost all patience long before then, but he was doing anything but helping the matter.

"Colonel O'Neill." Travell's voice was sharp.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I'm already gone." Jack stormed out.

"High Chancellor..." Daniel didn't know how he could salvage this. He figured the attempt had been doomed from the start.

"Doctor Jackson, we have heard your arguments. While we understand your concerns, and sympathize with them, we cannot help you in this matter."

Daniel's mouth hung open as he watched them file out of the room.

Teal'c stood up beside him. "Their reaction is not surprising."

"No," Daniel said. "But it is unfortunate."

"Indeed."

Narim came out from the wings. His face was drawn, as it had been since they told him about Sam. "I'm sorry you couldn't get what you wanted."

"Yeah, me too."

They exited the chamber, finding Jack pacing the hallway.

"What the hell was that?" Daniel said.

"That?" Jack motioned back to the other room. "A giant waste of our goddamn time is what that was."

"Insulting them isn't going to help."

"Pretty please wasn't working, either."

"They do have a point," Narim said. "We are not fighters. There is no practical way for us to intercede."

Jack frowned at him. "Maybe. But you guys sure are quick to dismiss the idea altogether. Earth can't exactly contribute much, but we're still helping the Tok'ra track battle lines."

Daniel frowned as Jack headed to the stargate. He shook Narim's hand. "It's good to see you, Narim. Despite everything."

_**Lost**_

They were shrouded in darkness. Crouched in a small hollow, beset on all sides. There were perhaps twenty warriors left of the group. Staff blasts were the only illumination under the shroud of trees. While they all had lambent crystals that could be activated to provide light, Calisa didn't figure it was wise to paint individual targets over their heads. Thud bugs prevented the jaffa from advancing too close. That and the regular blasts from the Yuuzhan'ntoth.

But it wouldn't hold them back forever. Either they would finally choose to advance, or pull back and get the al'kesh to finish the job. Sooner than later, she knew. This had already gone on far too long.

Saunak still managed to throw her thud bug. Calisa wondered just how bad her injury was, but Saunak had never let her check it. Remembering her words made Calisa crack the barest of smiles.

"I am still able to fight. Leave it at that."

One of the warriors hissed. "There is no honor in this."

"Wait," Calisa said. She opened her armor, peeling it off as quickly as she could.

Saunak's voice held more strength than it had in a long time. "What are you doing?"

"I have an idea."

"Suicide?"

"No," Calisa said. But, it could very well be just that. She was taking a huge gamble. "Activate the lambent crystals, all of them. Turn them on full."

Saunak was incredulous. "You really are intent on suicide."

Wearing only the living garments that were under her vonduun crab armor, the Yuuzhan'ntoth, and her ooglith masquer, she spoke sharply.

"Do it."

The sudden abundance of light was blinding. Calisa wasted no time, couldn't afford to. She pressed the ridge of the ooglith at the side of her nose, and it began to free itself from her.

"Jaffa!" She screamed the word as she stood. Both to indimidate as well as mask her own pain. She ripped at the ooglith, tearing the cilia from her pores before they could properly free themselves. The rough action tore at her own skin, coating Calisa in her own blood.

The jaffa had stopped firing from the start, confused. Their eyes widened, it appeared to them as if she were ripping off her own flesh.

She invoked the Slayer at the top of her lungs. She said anything she could think of, because she knew they didn't understand her and they would find the language terrifying. Calisa conjugated verbs. She said complete gibberish. She went through the names of all the domains that she knew.

The ooglith was now pooled on the ground. Calisa continued to walk forward, out of the meager protection. Barely aware of her actions. She kept her face hard, let them see nothing. Everything depended on her being fearless. Ruthless.

A jaffa finally found his wits. "Jaffa, kree!"

She didn't even notice that her knife had somehow found its way into her hand. Didn't realize she was still speaking. All conscious thought seemed to fade.

The jaffa raised their staff weapons at the command. And fired. The hiss of energy drowned out Saunak's shout.

Calisa still stood, the personal shield rippling around her before fading. Jaffa stood completely stunned. She shot the Yuuzhan'ntoth with a feral yell and charged, jaffa cracked heavily against trees. The warriors behind her gave their own roar and followed.

The jaffa in front of her screamed pitifully, terrified. Bloodied and wild, she tackled him to the ground. Stabbed him repeatedly as his arms remained trapped beneath his weapon. Standing, the Yuuzhan'ntoth crushed her next victim into a tree. He crumpled to the ground, dead instantly.

Death littered the ground around Calisa. She was oblivious to it. Oblivious to their shouts of horror. Jaffa begged her for mercy, but she couldn't hear them.

_**Lost**_

Saunak limped behind, trying to keep up. The other warriors attacked what they could, but Calisa left very little for them in her wake. She lashed out mindlessly with both Yuuzhan'ntoth and coufee. Covered in blood, less and less of it her own, Calisa appeared demonic. Acted as though possessed.

She didn't understand the jaffa tongue, but Saunak knew pleas for mercy when she heard them. And knew full well they fell on deaf ears. Calisa hacked, slashed, eviscerated.

The remaining jaffa finally fled, crying out in terror.

Calisa continued walking deliberately. As though still on a mission. The warriors watched her with a mix of fear and awe. The enemy was gone though. There was nothing left for her to attack.

Saunak rushed forward, felt the tightness in her chest explode with each step. She ignored it.

"Calisa, they are gone."

She got no reaction. Calisa was muttering under her breath. Saunak couldn't tell if she was speaking Yuuzhan Vong, or if they were actual words to begin with.

"Calisa. Ntoth. Cha!" Saunak tried every address she could come up with and got nothing. She tried to grab Calisa's shoulder, but couldn't get a grip for the slick blood. Where blood smeared Calisa's skin appeared even more pale than she remembered it.

Saunak moved in front of Calisa. Not knowing what else to do, she slapped her hard across the face. Calisa staggered back and blinked as the fugue finally snapped. Saunak could see her muscles tremble.

"They are gone." Saunak repeated the words through clenched teeth.

"What?"

"The jaffa have retreated."

Calisa looked around her. At the corpses. At the other Yuuzhan Vong who seemed unsure if it was safe to approach. Seeing for the first time.

A group of coralskippers cut through the air overhead. Reinforcements were coming.

"What did you do?" Saunak said. There was no horror for her. She had seen death before, and she was hardly concerned with the ends of her enemies. What she had witnessed was godly.

"What I had to." Calisa's voice was weak. She swayed.

Saunak had never seen Calisa use the Yuuzhan'ntoth over such a prolonged period. It must have taken its toll. "Sit down. You don't look well."

"I'm fine." Her reply was automatic. Her fainting only slightly less so.

Beckoning over one of the warriors, Saunak spoke. "Carry her, we will meet up with the reinforcements."

_**Lost**_

The stargate activated briefly. One single thud against the closed iris before the wormhole disengaged once more. No more than a few seconds, and Daniel knew instantly that it wasn't good. He had only happened to be passing by at the time. Hammond looked at him before calling for the stargate to be analyzed.

Even as Siler and his team were searching for a radioactive signature, Daniel knew it would be Vong related. Everything was these days. The only question that remained was which ally it was.

"What we got?" Jack said as he entered the control room. Teal'c was just behind him.

"Not sure yet. Someone's trying to contact us."

Jack frowned. "You sure?"

It seemed the only obvious answer. What were the chances this was just some fluke?

"The way things are going it's just a matter of time, don't you think?" Daniel said.

"Yeah."

"Earth doesn't have the resources to offer any significant assistance to our allies. If one is indeed under attack, there would be little we can do for them." Teal'c watched the tech team as he spoke.

"Well, let's wait before we go flying off the handle."

Daniel nodded, Jack was right. Maybe it wasn't what they feared after all. Though he really didn't think that that was the case.

Finally the technician at the console turned. "Sir, the readings are identical to the signal box we left at P3X-974. It's the Cimmerians."

"Cimmerians?" Daniel's eyes went wide. They were a protected planet, under the auspices of the Asgard. This didn't bode well.

The MALP had already been prepared. Hammond nodded towards the stargate. "Dial P3X-974."

Daniel expected to see chaos and destruction. The scene sent back through the probe was peaceful and serene. Gairwyn's expression, however, was not. She eyed the camera impatiently.

"Gairwyn, what's wrong?" Daniel said.

"Doctor Jackson," she said, recognizing his voice, "we need your help. Demons have arrived from the sky. They demand our surrender or we will be destroyed."

"They haven't attacked yet?" Jack said. It did seem curious. The Yuuzhan Vong weren't big into talking first and killing later.

Gairwyn shook her head. "We have until nightfall to make our decision."

It was after noon already judging by the light.

"What about the Asgard?" Hammond said. "Have you contacted them?"

"I have just returned from the Hall of Thor's Might. He is silent."

It wasn't much of a surprise, they had been trying to contact the Asgard for months now. But without their intervention...

"You need to evacuate," Daniel said. If they stayed, they'd either be killed or worse.

Gairwyn looked at the probe desperately. "There isn't enough time. We cannot possibly warn the nearby villages and return before then."

Jack turned to Hammond. "We can hold them off, buy them some time."

"Colonel, we don't even know what we're dealing with."

"Neither do they," Jack said. "These guys are expecting some primitive yokels, not us. We just need to try to keep the stargate clear for a while, give them a chance."

It was a fool's mission. They couldn't even be sure the Yuuzhan Vong would come down with troops. Daniel agreed with Jack, though, they had to try to help in any way they possibly could.

"General, I think it's worth a shot. We can give the Hall another chance in the meantime." Daniel looked at the man in earnest.

Teal'c nodded slightly in his agreement. "Do we not have a device capable of scanning into orbit? That we may better know what we face."

Hammond was silent for a time. He looked between the three of them, carefully contemplating. Daniel knew that he wanted to help as much as any of them, but he also had other concerns to weigh besides his own feelings.

"I'll get Sergeant Siler on it. You will coordinate with SG-3. And you will return immediately if the situation warrants it. Don't get yourselves killed for nothing."

Jack nodded. "Yes, sir."

Jack then keyed the communications on the MALP. "We're on our way, Gairwyn. Start rounding everybody up."

They gathered their gear in silence and went through the stargate as soon as they were able. SG-3 remained there to keep an eye out and to begin evacuating those already at the gate. Women and children mostly.

"The Asgard have not responded to us. What makes you believe you will fare any different?" Gairwyn said as they walked.

Daniel shrugged. "Just hoping. We can't do much for your people, maybe stall the Yuuzhan Vong for a time. Maybe. The Asgard could do more."

"We know. And we are grateful for all that you are doing for us now."

He nodded. What else was there to say? Soon Siler should send through the scanner and they'd be able to tell if they could actually be of any help. Daniel wasn't sure what a handful of people were supposed to do against an army. Even then SG-3 would be beginning to set up a perimeter. Claymores, defensive positions. Hopefully it would be enough to buy them a few hours, at the very least. Save that many more people.

The Hall of Thor's Might was dimly lit. Daniel walked straight to the console, no longer hidden as it once had been. With trepidation he moved the control stone into position. He walked onto the holographic projector.

Daniel looked across an empty room. The hall where the Asgard high council met held nothing but his frowning image. Spinning, he took in the dark room, his projection casting most of the light there was.

"Hello?" He listened to his voice echo. "Is anybody here? Thor?"

There was no response, no acknowledgement at all of his presence. Where was everyone?

"If you can hear me, we could _really_ use your help right now. Cimmeria is under attack. We're trying to get as many out as we can... but we can't get them all. Hello?"

With his face tightly drawn, Daniel stepped off the pad. "No one's there."

"Gathered that," Jack said. He nodded to the exit. "Let's go, we've got work to do."

_**Lost**_

The sensor sweep had picked up one object in low orbit. About three times bigger than an al'kesh, but nothing like the large ships they had seen before. The Yuuzhan Vong really wouldn't need much against axes and arrows, anyway. If that was all there was, then maybe they could accomplish something. It wouldn't be much, Jack thought bitterly. It wouldn't be nearly enough, but at least it would be something.

He frowned as the sky darkened. Jack looked through the positions. SG-1 took the left flank, and SG-3 held the right. About thirty Cimmerians were interspersed amongst them, holding the weapons they had been given awkwardly. It was a start. Jack could see another group trickling down the hills.

"Colonel O'Neill." Major Wade pointed up to the growing dot in the sky.

The ship landed in the valley a mile away, the only clearing large enough for its massive bulk. A smaller object had broken from it and streaked towards them. It was a small transport that could hold about a dozen people. This one landed perhaps a hundred yards from their position and quickly disgorged its charges.

Ten warriors stood at the base of the ship, one wearing a mask as black as his armor. As he approached their position, Jack saw that the mask was simple unlike the warrior they had seen on P4C-483, save the two prominent horns that curled up from the crown. The warrior and his contingent stopped less than a hundred feet away.

"Where is your leader?" The Yuuzhan Vong's voice carried easily over the distance.

Gairwyn stood, shrugging out of Daniel's grip as he tried to keep her down. She had insisted on helping in the defense. Jack tightened his grip on his P90.

"I am here."

"You make a grave mistake on this day. Submit to the Truth we offer, or be devoured by it."

Gairwyn shook her head. "We are slaves to none."

He then turned his attention to the SG teams. "You are not of this world."

"No," Jack said. "But we've grown rather fond of the guys."

"You will die with the rest then."

Jack muttered to himself mostly. "We'll see about that."

He lined up the shot with speed and efficiency. The burst of armor piercing rounds tore through the chest plate with minimal resistance. The masked warrior collapsed to the ground even as the other warriors began to scramble, trying to take cover behind whatever they could find. Gunfire filled the air, downing two more before they could duck behind trees or rocks.

It was satisfying to know that their weapons actually worked. The thud bugs were deflected off of their improvised cover. It was easy enough to keep the remaining warriors pinned, but that would only hold until their friends arrived.

Jack watched the Cimmerians continue to approach, circling wide to avoid the fray.

"Daniel, get the gate," Jack said as soon as they were close. The other man immediately went and dialed the stargate. He motioned the group through once his IDC was verified.

Scattered groups of Cimmerians broke through the trees first, screaming as they ran for their lives. Countless warriors streamed after them. Stragglers dropped quickly, the Yuuzhan Vong not even slowing as they merely trampled the unfortunate.

They fired at the wall of armor, trying to slow their advance. Against the numbers it amounted to very little. When the wave of Cimmerians were far enough through, Jack shouted.

"Get down!"

He watched them dive to the ground in the fading light. The first line of claymores was detonated, shredding through the line of Yuuzhan Vong. Warriors merely climbed over the bodies of the fallen and continued.

The ship ascended over the hills, quickly approaching their position. The next line of claymores went off.

"Gate, now!"

Jack fired into the rapidly approaching ranks. Only one more line of claymores remained. As that too went off he felt the wave of heat wash over him. The Yuuzhan Vong were about to climb over their cover. Daniel had only just finished dialing the gate, not yet able to key in the code.

Lighting up brilliantly, the ship fired it's molten cannons at the gate. Even if Daniel had opened the iris, they'd never be able to cross the distance in time, and even if they could the blast would just follow them through.

"Run!" Jack yelled uselessly, out of instinct. A flash of light engulfed him, and he found his words echoing lewdly in the confines of the Asgard ship.

The bridge was cramped with Cimmerians and the two SG teams. They gasped among themselves, unsure what to make of the current situation.

He could see the Yuuzhan Vong ship through the screen. It released a salvo against the larger Asgard ship. None of it penetrated the shields. The first return shot was absorbed within the artificial singularities, but they were quickly overwhelmed. The second shot pierced straight through the ship, nearly cracking it in two. It was quickly dispatched.

Jack watched the teleportation beam sweep over the mass of Yuuzhan Vong with disappointment. They deserved far worse.

With the threat over, Jack turned to Thor. The residual adrenaline left a sharp bite in his words. "You guys _really_ need to check your messages more often."

Thor's glassy eyes blinked once. "I apologize for my tardiness, O'Neill."

"We've been trying to contact you for a long time." Daniel spoke before Jack had a chance to rail.

"The situation in our home galaxy with the Replicators has been dire."

"Not so hot over here, either," Jack said. He swept a hand to the view screen to illustrate his point.

"No," Thor said, "it is regrettable that we have been unable to respond prior to now."

"Well, now that you are here, why don't you send these guys packing?" Jack said.

"We are unable to commit the resources necessary for such an endeavor. One ship cannot eliminate an entire flotilla."

"One ship?" Jack paced through the mass of bodies. "You've gotta be kidding me."

It was a cruel joke. So they were all still doomed anyway. For all their effort, this is what they got?

"I wish it were otherwise." Thor's voice lowered almost imperceptibly. "But I will do all I can to assist."

"What have you done with the Yuuzhan Vong soldiers?" Teal'c said.

"They are confined within the Biliskner's hold."

Good, Jack thought. "Let's go have a chat."

Thor nodded. With a movement of his hand across the console, Jack found himself standing in the hold with Thor and the rest of SG-1. Staring at raging Yuuzhan Vong through the transparent forcefield. Railing and shouting, they punched the barrier or swiped at it with their weapons. All of the efforts were in vain. Others gouged at the walls behind them, barely scratching the alloy that comprised the ship.

"Hey, hey!" Jack said. "Behave!"

They paid no attention to him. The Yuuzhan Vong only stilled when a shout of "kaza" boomed from within the group. Another masked warrior emerged from the group, slightly smaller and apparently female, her armor a deep red. Her eyes appeared as black orbs through the mask, her expression hidden. Thin tendrils swept back from the mask like a mane, falling below her shoulders.

"You understand me?"

"I do," she said with a snarl.

"Why do you come to this world?" Thor said.

She peered down at his frail form. Even without expression the disdain was obvious. However, she said nothing.

"Not gonna cooperate? Fine with me," Jack said. He welcomed the excuse. Maybe they'd feel different if they got back some of their own.

The Yuuzhan Vong peeled off her mask. The scars and tattoos beneath creased with her expression. She snarled through frayed lips. Stopped mere inches from the energy barrier between them. "Grash na Yun-Yammka. Do-ro'ik vong pratte!"

The warriors around her shouted, taking up the call. She exhaled heavily, the air around her suddenly oily black. They jumped back defensively, but the cloud was stopped by the forcefield. Within moments it had engulfed the entire area. As they inhaled it, warriors grasped at their throats. Ragged gurgles brought up foaming blood. Wide eyes became impossibly bloodshot as they collapsed to the floor.

The female was the only one still standing. She stared at Jack through the thick cloud defiantly.

"Glory to the Slayer." She inhaled deliberately, quickly succumbing to the toxin like all the rest.

Jack could only stare at the pile of bodies within the barrier.

"The containment field is holding. Her poison has not penetrated into the life support system." Thor manipulated the console.

The black cloud quickly settled, falling to the floor. A layer of black dust covered the floor and the corpses that now littered it. There was a lingering silence.

"I think that was meant for us, too," Daniel said.

Jack nodded, still shook. "Yeah. They can do that?"

"So it would seem," Teal'c said.

Thor stepped forward, looking up between them. "I will return you to Earth, then I must take the Cimmerians to safety."

_**Lost**_

Calisa laid on her side, staring blankly at the wall of the ship. Her wounds were minor, hidden beneath her ooglith. It only burned slightly, but Calisa didn't pay attention to the sensation. She wasn't sure how long she had slept. If it weren't for the uneasiness that filled her she could sleep longer still. It wasn't horror, or even shock, which she expected. It was a bone deep emptiness that left her unsettled.

Hadn't she wished for these unbidden thoughts to end? So why then did she feel like she had lost something... important. Crossed a line that couldn't be undone.

Someone entered the chamber. Calisa remained still, hoping whoever it was would assume she was still asleep and leave. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

The footsteps stopped behind her. A tight draw of breath as she sat made Calisa realize that it was Saunak. She still didn't react, hoping futilely that the woman was fooled.

"I know you are awake." The pain in her voice was evident.

"I'm tired," Calisa said by way of dismissal.

"You will have to endure." There was no amusement. At her silence, Calisa finally turned. Apparently it was what Saunak was waiting for and she continued. "Do you believe me now? You are blessed by the gods."

Blessed? She didn't feel blessed. "I did what had to be done. That's it."

Saunak just looked at her, not accepting the statement as an argument against her claims. But it's what Calisa clung to, there had been no other options. No other way.

Calisa sighed, resigned. There was also no arguing with Saunak. "Are we done?"

"No. The Commander has summoned you. He means to escalate you, Calisa. Subaltern."

Her eyes went wide. "What? Already?"

"You tore through the enemy almost single-handed." Saunak reminded. "And you are plainly suited for leadership."

Calisa couldn't respond. She watched Saunak stand, one arm clutched tightly across the bandage that peeked out of her tunic. The mossy fibers secreted chemicals that aided in healing. It was also self-cleaning and did not need to be changed. But as was custom with the Yuuzhan Vong, it did nothing to ease the pain.

"Come," Saunak said through clenched teeth. "He will not want to be kept waiting."

She followed Saunak through the corridors. Subaltern? Command over her own group of warriors. After just a few battles, it didn't seem right. Calisa could hardly refuse, though.

She barely had the presence of mind to salute as they entered the large bridge of the worldship. Warriors stood sharply around the entry and the dais in the middle of the room. Statues to the gods lined the walls. There were several stations manned by Yuuzhan Vong. Cognition hoods draped over their heads to allow them to interface with the ship, connected to the station by thin tendrils. Sensors, propulsion, weapons, whatever was their charge. Able to command the ship with a mere thought.

The transparent membrane that comprised over half of the room revealed the speckled blanket of space.

Commander Nola Keth stood at the dais with Prefect Zai Gal, speaking with her in hushed tones. While not of the warrior caste, intendants such as Zai Gal and Executor Nom Anor were often deeply intertwined with military forces. As the governing caste, they dealt with resource allocation and day-to-day affairs. Essentially the politicians of their species. And with their influence and power, they were uniquely suited for espionage and subversion.

The Prefect gave a small nod to the Commander, breaking off their conversation. She looked at Calisa, appearing intrigued. "Word already spreads through the infidels of what you have done here, Calisa of domain Cha." Zai Gal gave a predatory smile. "They fear you."

She wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully the Commander spoke and saved her the trouble.

"We will use this to crush their spirit. Your mere presence on the battlefield will strike dread into our enemies."

It made more sense to her now. They wanted her to be more visible. More imposing. Then if that's what they wanted from her, then that's what she'd do. "Yes, Commander."

Zai Gal clasped her hands together in satisfaction. "I have requested the shapers to specially create your Subaltern mask. Something that will... distinguish you."


	5. Lost 4

**AN: Well this took a while, and ended up deviating from my mental outline. I'm hoping it will start going a bit smoother from here on. It's hard to keep the whole war thing in perspective when all I really want to do is dive down into specific characters. But I struggle on... and digress.**

Tsavong Lah stared through the view port of his worldship, the Kel Skerr. Black Terror. Impressive in both size and armament, it was the flagship of their fleet. At least, for now. It stood guard over its heir, a massive vessel that would exceed the power of anything they currently possessed. But it was still far from complete.

The planet had been shattered. The Warmaster didn't know what name it may have had, nor did he care about whatever creatures had once called it home. Spiraling out, the foundation of the ship hung in the middle of a mass of web-like protrusions. Through them the rocky fragments were processed and fed to the growing yorik coral, the substance that made up the hulls of their ships. As the mass grew the other creatures were grafted within the walls. Life support. Dovin basals. Weapon placements.

He made a small motion of acknowledgment to the subcommander that saluted. The leader of his honor guard. Two dozen of the finest warriors lined the bridge, ready to act at a moments notice.

"The Executor wishes an audience, Fearsome One."

Tsavong Lah nodded. Still not bothering to turn, he listened to the footsteps approach, heard the sharp slap as Nom Anor saluted, bringing his fist to the opposite breast. Executor was a far cry from Warmaster, and he did well to observe the proper respect.

"The planet is ours?"

There was a pause. The Warmaster frowned into space.

"We have lost contact with the contingent, Warmaster," Nom Anor said.

"What?" Tsavong Lah's voice was sharp as he turned. He eyed the Executor sharply. Nom Anor had assured that his scouts had found nothing but a handful of primitive peoples on the world that they had inspected, one that the System Lord Ba'al had offered up. Tsavong Lah had been promised an easy victory with a small dispatch of warriors. There had been no need to divert an entire worldship, something that the Warmaster was currently loathe to do.

The System Lords were beginning to press back, and the Yuuzhan Vong weren't yet able to replenish their slowly depleting assets. Their supply worlds were only beginning to bear the fruits of their labor.

Nom Anor withered visibly. "My scouts found wreckage of the ship, but no sign of the warriors. Or of the inhabitants."

"This failure will be remembered. Do not let it happen again."

For now, the work of the Executor in destabilizing the territory of Lord Yu overshadowed this loss of a small contingent of warriors. And he still served a purpose. None other had become so deeply entrenched in the affairs of this galaxy, an unsavory proposition for any who called themselves a true Yuuzhan Vong. He dismissed Nom Anor with a sharp wave of his hand.

Once he was gone, Tsavong Lah had the subcommander retrieve the villip for his second, currently stationed in Ba'al's territory.

The reproduction of Supreme Commander Nas Choka's head bowed reverently, but he was silent.

"I have diverted more forces to your campaign. Resume the assault."

"As you will."

The Goa'uld would pay for his ploy.

_**Lost**_

"Rumors are running rampant through the Yuuzhan Vong ranks. They speak of the battle at Yu's world of Gardol, a perported survivor claiming to have seen one of these Yuuzhan Vong with the power of their masters. Wielding some mockery of a ribbon device. Supposedly this one warrior cleaved through an entire rank... after ripping off its own flesh."

Radok stood stiffly before the Tok'ra high council, letting his words hang in the air.

"It must be an exaggeration," Garshaw said.

Jacob nodded, the whole idea was far-fetched. Certainly the last piece had to be. "Likely, but it still leaves one terrifying question. Is a Goa'uld working for the enemy?"

Ren'al, another member of the council, shook his head with disdain. "Even they couldn't be so foolish. The Goa'uld crave power, and they won't have it under these creatures."

"A minor lord may have traded one master for another. Certainly many must be questioning the capabilities of their forces to ultimately repel these invaders," Delek said.

Jacob continued. "Whatever the truth, this will certainly be a morale loss among the jaffa."

"They are already beginning to refer to this one as 'The Flayer'," Radok said.

A disturbing prospect. And a dangerous one. The Yuuzhan Vong were already fighting with fear on their side. This added more fuel to the fire. It was something they'd have to watch closely. If the jaffa were too afraid to fight, then the war would already be over.

The whole idea left him on edge. Who would possibly collaborate with these things?

_**Lost**_

Domain Keth had pulled away from Yu's worlds. The System Lord and his armies were in their death throes, and the forces could be spared. Calisa stood now on one of the words held by Ba'al. Fifty warriors ready to carry out her orders. The Commander had tasked her among the contingents that pressed the stargate, to cut off the jaffa's reinforcements and supplies.

Her expression was hidden behind the subaltern mask she now wore. The same dull green as her armor, it had none of the frills she had observed among the other subalterns. Nor did it need them, Calisa thought to herself. Smooth and polished with the uncanny shape of a bared skull. Zai Gal had been right, it was striking. Looking at it the first time had made her feel slightly ill, remembering the event it served to immortalize. At least now, encased within, she didn't have to look at it.

When the first group of jaffa had caught sight of her, Calisa could almost swear she could hear their gasps of terror in the distance. Apparently Zai Gal hadn't been exaggerating about that either. She wasn't sure how to feel about her budding reputation.

For now the two side simply stood, appraising each other.

"This 'stargate' is well guarded," Saunak said.

Calisa nodded. The jaffa were holed in, prepared for the long haul. Several positions had been set up with heavy turrets. Their ships were still in orbit, contending with the brunt of the Yuuzhan Vong forces. They would get no help from there. Still, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was missing something.

The small villip on her shoulder spoke. Unlike it's larger counterpart it only transmitted sound, and connected among a community of villips. Their version of two-way radios. In this instance connected between the four subalterns of her battle group, as well as the subcommander in charge.

"Positions report," the subcommander's voice said.

"North contingent in position," Calisa said into the villip after activating it.

"West contingent in position."

"South contingent in position."

"East contingent in position."

There was a brief silence, save for the rustling of armor around her.

The subcommander spoke again. "Begin the assault."

Calisa turned to Saunak, who offered her a solemn nod. She returned the gesture.

"Kaza!" Calisa shouted, could hear the faint echoes of her counterparts in the distance. The warriors around her vibrated with eagerness. Barely restrained. "Attack!"

Cover around the stargate was sparse, making their progress slow. While the vonduun armor could turn a regular staff blast, the cannons were a force to be respected. Even if the energy itself didn't penetrate the armor, the shock from it was easily enough to shatter the bones within. Attacking from all sides forced them to split up their guns and ease the pressure on each Yuuzhan Vong position.

Calisa had learned to control the shield that the Yuuzhan'ntoth could project now that she knew it existed. However she had no idea just how much it was capable of repelling, and certainly didn't want to test its limits.

The sun was falling in the sky before they were close enough to the jaffa position for her weapon to be any use. She fired into the enemy position, mostly scattering the jaffa crowded behind the walls. These fortifications were less haphazard, and stood up better than the improvised shelter she had torn through with relative ease. But still, they wouldn't hold up forever. Especially once they could neutralize the damn cannons.

Why hadn't the stargate activated even once since the start of the attack? What was the point in defending it if they weren't even going to put it to use? Calisa had known something wasn't quite right. She had to figure out what. Until then all there was to do was fight.

Finally the wall before her shattered. Debris flew back, knocking aside the jaffa in its path. For a brief moment before they recovered to retreat further back into their defenses she had a straight line to the stargate. The ring stood on its dais, but the DHD was nowhere in sight.

Calisa cursed to herself as she ducked against a desperate volley of staff blasts. She fell back slightly, taking shelter behind a rocky outcropping. Of course they'd know that the Yuuzhan Vong were targeting the stargates, intent on neutralization rather than capture. The stargates were useless to the Yuuzhan Vong, they would never so blatantly break the protocols of their religion. And knowing that, why would they keep it in the open and accessible?

"Subcommander Dryga," she said into her villip, "this is a diversion. The stargate here is a decoy."

They must have brought another one to the planet, tucked away in the relative safety of the main base.

"You are certain?" His voice was skeptical.

She couldn't explain exactly why she knew, vague memories plaguing her mind. But she knew without a doubt that she was right.

"Yes, subcommander. The real stargate must be in the pyramid."

Calisa rose from behind her cover just enough to shoot another wave into the jaffa, keeping them pinned as warriors began to breach the first wall. More defenses lay within, and it would take considerable more time to neutralize this group. Which would only serve to keep them occupied and away from the real battlefield.

Thankfully, he took her at her word. "This would make sense. Their numbers seem to remain steady despite losses. Subalterns Cha and Vaas, disengage and return to the Goa'uld stronghold."

She watched one of the cannon emplacements get overrun, the jaffa within cut down. "Fall back!"

"They only bought themselves some time, no more," Saunak said as they ducked from cover to cover. There was only conviction in her voice. Despite the intense fighting she barely seemed winded. Calisa didn't understand how the woman could have such endurance. One certainly wouldn't have guessed she had only recently recovered from injuries. For Calisa's own part, duty drove her on.

The fighting around the pyramid was fierce. In the dimming light the flashes of staff blasts streaked brilliantly. Bodies littered the ground, Yuuzhan Vong and jaffa corpses curled in a mockery of embrace. A few coralskippers had joined the fight, pelting the building and any jaffa not in direct combat with their own forces.

Death gliders managed to overwhelm ones defenses, sending the ship spiraling to the ground in the distance.

Apparently Saunak was correct. They eventually pressed into the damaged pyramid, locking the jaffa into melee. There was hardly any space to aim their staff weapons, and zats were as likely to chain into their own forces as not. Calisa shouted for a path, the warriors quick to scatter at her command. The wave pushed the jaffa back even further, bowling them over in a swath.

She didn't understand Goa'uld except for the odd word, but their desperation was plain. When the entered the main room with the stargate, she saw it was already activated, jaffa fighting to escape through it.

"No, stay away!" Calisa shouted at the warriors ahead that gave chase through its rippling surface. Picked off, no doubt, as soon as they materialized on the other side of the event horizon.

It wasn't long before the stargate disengaged, leaving many jaffa trapped. They were eventually subdued. The priests would want their sacrifices, after all. In space the battle ended soon after. What remained of Ba'al's forces fled to hyperspace.

Calisa didn't look at the jaffa as she stood guard over the procession. She did her best to block out their screams and pleas from her mind. Suddenly grateful for the mask to conceal her sharp winces at every exclamation of pain or squeal of a symbiote and eventual weak moans of the fading.

It was a weakness she'd have to get over, she told herself in the firmest mental voice she could manage. This was the way of things, and there was no reason for her to feel such revulsion over it.

They were the enemy, after all.

_**Lost**_

Bra'tak eyed Jacob with guarded suspicion. Though technically not Goa'uld, the Tok'ra still tended to hold themselves aloof. Plus their relationship with jaffa, free or not, was strained by the mere fact that they had been enemies for so long. But Teal'c and his friends among the Tau'ri had initiated this meeting, and this was no time to hold onto questionable grudges.

Besides, he could see from the stance that this Tok'ra didn't come as a superior, but as an equal. Was that more to do with the Tau'ri host, or the temperament of the symbiote within?

"Thank you for seeing me, Master Bra'tak," Jacob said, offering his hand.

Bra'tak took it with only slight hesitation. "Certainly this is not the time for formalities."

"No," the man quickly agreed. "I'm sure you are already aware of this warrior, this Flayer?"

"Yes."

A further threat to the sovereignty of the jaffa people. Many were beginning to call The Flayer a demon. A god sent to punish the jaffa for their wavering devotion in their masters. Whether or not that particular belief was started by the Goa'uld, they were certainly capitalizing on it to maintain control over the masses. Asserting that this was a test of their faith, and only the truly devout could hope to survive.

It undermined the progress the rebel jaffa had striven so hard to achieve.

"The propaganda needs to stop," Jacob said. His lip twitched slightly in a half-smile. "Though I see you already reached the same conclusion."

"Those once convinced that the Goa'uld are in fact false gods begin to question their beliefs. Those still loyal cling even stronger to their gods. Fear drives the jaffa to increasing acts of desperation."

Jacob paced briefly, giving a tired sigh. Bra'tak knew him to be Samantha Carter's father, and knew that her death weighed on him heavily. Informing the dedication he put into this conflict.

"The Tok'ra can talk until we're blue in the face, and the jaffa would never listen to us. They've been raised to regard us as traitors and usurpers. If anyone can possibly convince them that the enemies aren't gods or demons, but simply monsters... it's you and those loyal to your cause. I know many jaffa, of all sects, respect your opinions. And with good reason."

Bra'tak nodded. "You are correct in your assessment, Jacob Carter. It is a complex matter to move within the jaffa ranks without exposing our numbers. If there is ever a time to risk such things, it is now. I only hope that the effort will not be for nothing."

"Anything that the Tok'ra can do to assist, we will. This needs to be contained."

"On this, we are agreed."

_**Lost**_

The first matter of business was protecting the other protected planets. Thor knew his interference may deter future attacks, at least for a time. But it wasn't something he wanted to hedge bets upon. He stopped at each world, a task that took far less time than it would for a Goa'uld ship or indeed the vessels of the Yuuzhan Vong, deploying a satellite in orbit. It had shielding and weapons, and should be able to dispatch any ships like the one the Biliskner had encountered, but would not repel a full assault. It would give him warning, and hopefully he'd be able to do something about it.

As with the situation with the Goa'uld, he regretted that they had let this new threat get so far out of hand. And depending on how he played this, the Goa'uld may finally realize the Asgard were in no position to back any of their threats. It was a very delicate situation.

One matter at a time. He would have to entreat the Goa'uld, and continue the bluff they had been maintaining for too long already.

Though his expression seemed almost neutral to non-Asgard, Thor was deeply unsettled.

_**Lost**_

Nom Anor frowned. Manipulation was his forte. He enjoyed a close and rewarding relationship with Yun-Harla. Perhaps not as devout as many of his brethren, he knew that he still garnered her favor. To have the enemy attempt to counteract these efforts was unacceptable. This Calisa was a boon to their efforts. He had been skeptical of the shaper plot at first, but now he realized they understood affairs in this galaxy better than he assumed.

The supposed power these Goa'uld wielded was what made the planets turn. What better way to dishearten their foes than to steal that power for themselves? Play on their pathetic superstitions.

Now these rebel jaffa attempted to quell the whispers of gods and retribution. The words themselves would reach few, why should the terrified creatures take heed when the proof of destruction flared around them? The action, the attempt itself would speak loudest. That they would still speak out even against all odds, that is what the other jaffa would cling to. And the longer that they continued unchecked, the stronger their actions would resonate.

No, they had to be delt with. Show all jaffa that defiance of any kind against the Yuuzhan Vong would not go unpunished. The Warmaster had agreed, action needed to be taken swiftly.

But first, he had to find them.

_**Lost**_

Galen flew through hyperspace in tense silence. Alone in the tel'tak, he warred with the decision he had been debating for weeks. Wondered not for the first time if he was making a mistake. The others were making the mistake, Galen rationalized. He was being realistic. This was about survival. Unlike Bra'tak, he held no illusions of which side would come out of this war the victor.

Galen's convictions weren't strong enough for him to die for.

Arriving at the specified coordinates, he dropped from hyperspace. And was greeted only by the the starscape spread out before him. Sensors picked up nothing in the viscinity. Anxious, he double checked that he was at the right place. Then he waited.

Hours passed. Galen fell into a light state of kel'no'reem, resigned. He was in it now, running wouldn't be an option. Whether they killed him or not would have nothing to do with his readiness. Assuming they bothered to come at all. Had these Yuuzhan Vong changed their mind? It had been a long and arduous effort to find a way to contact them without being discovered. After that it had been much easier to volunteer for Bra'tak's anti-propaganda campaign to get the ship with which to meet this contact.

The bulky ship appeared almost impossibly close. Galen's eyes snapped open at the shrill of the sensors. All he could see was the mottled hull of the other ship, a dark blot that hid the stars behind it. It was slightly bigger than an al'kesh.

The tel'tak shuddered. Even without testing the engines, he knew the vessel had been immobilized. Galen remained motionless as the same invisible force started to pull him even closer to the ship. A hatch spiralled open, and the tel'tak was guided within the small bay.

Galen watched through the view screen as warriors lined the resealed bay. Each held their snake-like weapons ready, eying the foreign hunk of metal. It was the moment of truth. With a steadying breath, Galen stood and exited the ship.

Snarls rumbled from the warriors, their weapons flexed menacingly. Several came forward, searching him for weapons and found none. Galen kept himself from withering, standing tall and proud. The jaffa were also a warrior people, it was a simple language based on strength. He spoke it well. He scanned the group.

"To whom do I address?" Galen said.

"No one, kaadjit, unless you are so commanded." The female didn't wear armor, instead frocked in long dark robes. Her raven hair pulled in a high tail and heavy earrings lining each ear. Galen spotted the hilt of the knife tucked into the waist of her garment.

He nodded in what he hoped was a respectful manner.

"Good, kaadjit." Her voice was falsely sweet. Galen knew instinctively that kaadjit was some sort of insult, but he ignored it. They were his masters now, and could address him however they wished.

"So you would betray your fellow jaffa?" she said. The Yuuzhan Vong smiled at his continued silence. "You may speak."

Galen bowed his head. "I embrace the truth that my brothers are not yet ready to accept. That of the Yun'o, your gods."

"Not our gods," she corrected. "_The_ gods."

"Of course, my apologies."

The Yuuzhan Vong motioned Galen to follow. He fell in step behind her, flanked on both sides by two warriors. There was a tense silence as he was led down the hallway. She stopped before an opening to a small room.

Understanding her intention, Galen stepped inside.

"We will, of course, require proof of your intentions. A show of loyalty."

Galen nodded. He had already guessed the price of his salvation. "And in return for this proof?"

"If you truly have converted, then there is nothing to fear," she said. Comforted, Galen signaled his acceptance. "You will tell us the location of these 'free' jaffa, that their insolence may be properly addressed. You will tell us all you know of their armaments and numbers. This is the price of your salvation."

He hesitated, but only briefly. Bra'tak and the others had signed their own fate. Even without his betrayal, they were doomed. Galen took a breath and told her everything she demanded. The location of the planet they occupied. Rough numbers and all the assets that he knew. Layouts of the settlements. When Galen finished he felt ill.

The Yuuzhan Vong woman was smiling. He still didn't know her name.

"When your information has been verified we will further discuss your place among us."

_**Lost**_

Khalee Gal relayed the information to Nom Anor. She had no doubts that the jaffa had spoken the truth. His ambivalence was plain. The pleasure she had taken in it much less so. She did so enjoy being on the front lines, getting her hands dirty. Fighting was not her style, or her place. Khalee got so much more satisfaction from destroying her opponents from within.

It would take days for his story to be verified. To send a scout to the location, to confirm without being seen. Khalee let him sit in the prison to think. Let the true weight of his decision sink in. Imagined the turmoil that surely plagued him.

He was condemning his brothers to death, after all.

When Nom Anor contacted her, Khalee could barely restrain herself. The information was sound, just as she believed. He had looked at her through the villip, a subtle smile on his lips.

"Fetch this jaffa. I would have him know my gratitude."

Khalee bowed her head. "At once, Executor."

She swept down the halls with two warriors in tow. She mustn't keep the Executor waiting. Or herself. Khalee brought her palm to the sensor outside of the door. It tasted her DNA and slid open. Galen sat cross-legged in the middle of the room. Hooded eyes opened and regarded her.

"Come. My master requests your presence."

Khalee watched his brow raise. "Is there a problem?"

"No," she said, smiling. "The Executor is quite pleased."

He stood and followed. Khalee had made note of his drawn and shadowed features, reveled in them. When they arrived on the modest bridge, he looked confused. There was no one there, just the villip resting on its pedestal.

Khalee offered him a reassuring look. "The Executor is occupied in other matters, but this creature will allow you to see his face, to hear his words. Merely brush your hand across the top."

Warily, he did as instructed, and jumped back when the orb transformed. Nom Anor looked at him appraisingly. The jaffa simply looked baffled.

"You allow us a great victory over our enemies. These 'free' jaffa will be an example to the rest of this wayward galaxy. Their suffering will be legendary."

Khalee watched the man pale, something the villip would be unable to show. Galen could barely speak. "You will allow them a chance to repent, to accept the True path?"

The poor thing sounded so hopeful.

Nom Anor's hard expression never wavered. "An example must be set. And you must be rewarded for your part in the slaughter."

He could not see or hear her through the villip, but Nom Anor knew that she was there and listening. Eagerly. "Khalee, his reward."

Her knife was already drawn, her body almost touching Galen. As soon as the command was given, the blade slid neatly through the ribcage, stopping at the hilt. Nom Anor had already disengaged the conversation, his interest gone. Galen grunted in surprise. He moved as if to grab the knife, and Khalee easily slapped his hand aside. She guided him down to his knees, crouching down beside him as she still held the knife.

"No," she all but whispered as she stroked his cheek with her other hand, "do not look at me so accusingly."

Galen narrowed his eyes at her, panting for air. "You lied."

Khalee twisted the knife enough to make him clench his teeth. "Never once did I lie to you, jaffa. Your place among us has been discussed, and decided."

Yes, her words had been careful and deliberate.

"I pledged myself to your teachings," he said. Already his face was going pale. She watched the desperation as he tried to think, to rationalize. "You said if I converted I had nothing to fear."

"Yes," Khalee said on a soft laugh. "If you are truly converted as you have said, then surely you have nothing to fear in death. It is to be embraced. Jaffa, do you not see? The guilt of betraying your brothers is plain. I free you from this burden. This is your reward."

Khalee freed the blade in one quick motion. She laid the dying jaffa on the ground, then stood above him. Galen continued to stare up at her, and she saw the very moment when acceptance washed over him. Khalee smiled.

"Am I not merciful?"

_**Lost**_

Commander Nola looked at Calisa, his face harsh. "The Warmaster's orders are clear, take as many alive as possible. He wants a worthy sacrifice for Yun-Yammka. And he will not be disappointed."

"Yes, Commander," she said, the only response she could give. It was all Calisa could do not to cringe at the mention of sacrifice. The begging and screams of the other jaffa was still fresh in her mind. She wasn't looking forward to hearing it again.

The ships were there mostly to keep the jaffa from running. Not that the jaffa had many ships of their own to start with. It would be down to the warriors. Down to her. The Commander had also made it perfectly clear that she was to lead the assault. Another thing she had no choice but to accept.

As they descended to the planet's surface, Calisa turned to Saunak. There was no hesitation in her features. Only anticipation. Calisa felt jealous of her certainty. Saunak never balked. Never questioned.

She pushed back her own doubts, and ordered the charge.

The camp stood nearby. Pitiful in its simplicity. Rough houses constructed from the wood at hand. Many were simply tents. This wasn't the bastion of a System Lord. It was a hovel of refugees. A stark realization that gave her pause. Why did these jaffa matter so much? The ships, the warriors, the priests. Surely this was overkill of the highest order.

"Calisa," Saunak said. The woman was looking at her curiously.

She shook out of the fog, ignoring the question in Saunak's eyes. "Let's go."

It wasn't one main camp, but several smaller ones spread out. Remnants of lingering suspicions between the fractured jaffa people. Many were far from the stargate, far from escape. Their first priority was to secure that means of escape, then neutralize the population. Calisa pushed towards the position.

For all they lacked, the jaffa were still a proud and highly trained military force. The horns had sounded immediately, and the loose collection of soldiers were already forming resistance. Doing all they could to impede the advance. Hit and runs. Traps that had probably been set in case the Goa'uld ever found them.

Their efforts were surprisingly effective. Not enough to win, not by a long shot. But they were amazingly effective at stopping the warriors in their tracks. Knowing the warriors craved the battle, even sometimes beyond reason and rationale. Using that knowledge to pull them off course and lure them.

Calisa could hear the terrified screams of women in the distance, the wails of children. It chilled her marrow and gave her determination. She ordered an attack on the defending forces, pulling them further away from the stargate.

Giving the jaffa more time to evacuate the young and the old. Let them get out at least, she prayed.

Capturing the jaffa also worked in their favor. Warriors were distracted attempting to subdue soldiers, rather than simply killing and moving on. Though it wasn't to say that jaffa didn't fall on the battlefield, there were a fair share of deaths in the fray. It was inevitable.

Saunak grabbed her shoulder, frowning. "We must secure the ring before more escape."

Apparently she couldn't put it off any longer. Calisa nodded slowly. "Right."

Everything felt surreal. She acted, reacted, killed, but it was all as if she were merely an onlooker. Why? Why was she doing this? There was only one answer she could give herself, one that was wholly unsatisfying. Because, what else could she do? Calisa didn't know, only had a feeling there was something more. Something else. She simply didn't know what it was.

She watched coldly as they encircled the stargate. The few defenders finally gave up the fight, retreating through the open wormhole to some other destination. Calisa glanced at the DHD. Something about the highlighted symbols made her heart skip a beat. They were achingly familiar.

This time the warriors were smart enough not to give chase. It was one thing she had made perfectly clear before they touched down.

Bile burned the back of her throat as she spoke. "Gather the survivors."

Far too many jaffa had been cut off from escape.

_**Lost**_

Teal'c had barely given notice to the unscheduled offworld activation. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, and could mean many different things, most of which were mundane. When medical personnel and further airmen were called to the gate room, that's when he paid attention. Teal'c strode down the hallway with purpose.

As he neared, he saw jaffa streaming down the halls, being ushered out of the way. Many whom he recognized.

He pulled a woman aside. "What has transpired?"

Her eyes were wide. "The Yuuzhan Vong attack. So many..."

Desperate now, Teal'c moved past her. Scanning the crowd. He pushed through, searching. For Drey'auc, Rya'c, for Bra'tak. The more he looked, the more fearful he became. Teal'c tore through the crowd, stopping at those too wounded to move only until he could discern who they were. Or weren't.

"Teal'c!" Janet called. The corridors were lined up with triage, those that could move were ushered away to make room for the rest. She knelt over a man coated with blood. Teal'c came forward and knelt beside her.

"I must find my family, Doctor Fraiser," he said. Still, he knelt beside her.

A sympathetic frown washed over her face, her hands coated with blood as she tried to stem the flow. "Please, Teal'c, I need your help. Keep pressure on the wound. There are others I need to check."

He debated ignoring her, but he could not. All of these jaffa were his family, and he owed it to each of them to do what little he could. Even if it was simply pressing a bandage to a wound. Teal'c moved her aside, taking over her position.

"Thank you Teal'c."

She rushed off into the fray. Teal'c continued to observe those that went past him, still finding no sign of Bra'tak or the others.

Daniel walked out from the gate room, supporting a woman who limped beside him.

"Daniel Jackson!" Teal'c called out to get his attention.

Daniel looked up, and started moving towards him. "Teal'c."

"Have you seen Drey'auc or Rya'c? Bra'tak?"

"Drey'auc's in the gate room still, she's helping the medics there," Daniel said. He continued with a frown. "I haven't seen anyone else. But... they're still coming through."

He spoke hopefully, though fully aware of the chances. Teal'c could only nod in response. His chest was tight with worry. Though he did all he could for the bleeding man, it simply wasn't enough. The jaffa slipped away slowly. Silently, Teal'c closed the man's eyes and then moved on.

Unhindered now, he wasted no time entering the gate room. Evacuees were still slowly streaming through the wormhole. No more women and children, Teal'c noted immediately. The last of those defending the stargate.

"Drey'auc. Are you injured?"

She looked up from her ministrations, the barest relief on her face. Blood soaked her frock. "The blood is not mine, husband."

"What of Rya'c? He is safe?"

"I do not know," Drey'auc said. "He insisted on helping gather those who could not fight."

"Why did you not make him come through? He is still a boy." His words were harsh, hot with anger. Teal'c could not bear to think of his child fighting such a ruthless enemy.

Drey'auc was equally hard in her response. "Many besides him, younger still than Rya'c, took up arms. There was no other choice. This isn't just about you or me or our son, Teal'c. This was about saving as many of our people as possible. I could not have stopped him, and know that I tried."

Teal'c simply looked at her. Even though he knew her words were true, that she was right, he couldn't bring himself to accept it. This was never what he had hoped for his son. Even when he still thought Apophis was a god, he never wanted this.

Bra'tak's voice made his head snap around.

"Close your iris, General Hammond."

His mentor had stepped through with a handful of jaffa. Bra'tak and another held a third between them. None of them was Rya'c. The iris slid shut with a metallic scrape. Shortly after it disengaged.

"Rya'c," Teal'c said. Despite the activity, the room was somehow quiet. "What of Rya'c?"

Bra'tak shook his head, the weariness in his eyes came through in his voice, also. "I do not know, Teal'c."

The answer wasn't acceptable. Teal'c looked through the glass into the control room. "Dial the stargate. We must find Rya'c."

All he got in reply were bewildered stares. Hammond's mouth hung slightly agape as he tried to respond. Jack stood beside him, looking uncomfortable. No one was used to seeing Teal'c out of control. He pointedly ignored all of them.

"I must find my son," Teal'c said. His voice grew sharper.

He started up the ramp, though even he wasn't sure what he meant to do when he reached the top. The need to act drove him.

"Teal'c." Bra'tak grabbed his shoulder as he tried to walk by. Teal'c tried to shrug the older man aside and failed.

"Release me."

"Enough!" Bra'tak's voice echoed in the confined room. Everyone watched, unable to look away from the spectacle. "There is nothing left to be done, old friend. I am sorry."

Teal'c looked into Bra'tak's eyes with murderous intent. His jaw twitched uncontrollably. All that came from his mentor in return was overwhelming sadness.

"No." It was barely a whisper. Both a statement and a plea. Teal'c knew full well what happened to prisoners of the Yuuzhan Vong. Their cruelty had quickly become legendary, and rightfully so. His own son. Practically still a child. That fact wouldn't save him, Teal'c held no illusions of that. Impotent rage froze him to the core. "No..."

Muscles turned to water. His whole body trembled violently. Teal'c staggered back several steps, too distraught to think. He was no longer aware of his actions. Someone grabbed him as he fell to his knees. There was a pitiful wail that he didn't immediately recognize as his own.


End file.
